RWBY: Warning from the Future - Redo
by Patriot-112
Summary: She came back to prevent the tragedy that befell everyone. And by damn she intends to succeed...or die trying. Arkos! Renora! And other pairings in the near future!
1. Prologue: The Silver Maiden

_**Author Note: Yo Everyone! Yes, I know, hate me all you want for this. But PLEASE hear me out, after reading this first attempt at a RWBY fic, and after watching the recent volumes, I've decided that it needs a REAL Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood-style overhaul. Not to mention the original still bears the scars of Ron the True Fan's...personality. Either way, this redo will definitely have a lot of fixes from the old one, especially with the bombshells from Volume 6...one of many. So, without any further delay, let's begin.**_

 _ **P.S.: All Troll 'Guest' comments will be deleted on sight.**_

 _ **Disclaimer: RWBY belongs to Roosterteeth and Monty Oum, not me. End of story. Okay? Good. Now, let's begin!**_

* * *

 _ **Prologue**_

 _ **The Fifth Maiden**_

* * *

 _ **Somewhere in Remnant**_

* * *

"Are we clear on the plan?" said an amber eyed, black haired young woman. She was attired in a red knee length dress with yellow highlights, black high heels, and a black jeweled anklet.

Accompanying her were two others, who were the same age as her. One, a mocha-skinned young woman, with neon green hair, red eyes and wearing an attire consisting of a short olive-colored crop top, dark green pants overlapped by brown chaps, which looked a bit on the torn side, dark brown flat shoes, and a pair of white half gloves on her hands. Finishing off the attire, was a belt fitted with two holsters, which carried a pair of revolver type pistols.

The second, was a young male, with a fair pale skin complexion, metal grey hair, and silvery grey eyes. His clothing attire consisted of a black and slate grey two tone zip short sleeve shirt, a pair of orange pants, black fingerless gloves, and finally, a pair of black boots, which held a complex magazine and shotgun system.

"Yeah, when the Maiden comes down the road and falls for Emerald's illusion, we jump her and overwhelm her until she's wide open. Piece of cake," said the young man as he smirked cockily. Only for him to get smacked by the dark skinned woman as she gave him a reprimanding glare.

"Don't get cocky Mercury. She may an inexperienced huntress, but she was picked to be a maiden for a reason," the woman reprimanded.

"Sheesh, sorry Mom!" Mercury shot back, and it looked like the two were about to argue when the same amber eyed woman spoke up.

"Enough!" she ordered, glaring at the two, and the both of them shut their mouths, knowing well enough not to anger the woman.

"Sorry, Cinder," Emerald apologized.

Cinder, seeing the desired result, nodded at that, knowing she got them to stop their usual bickering. She smirked, knowing after this, they will be one step closer to bringing chaos to Remnant. It was her Queen's wish after all.

"You're forgiven," she said, before her face became serious, "Now to your places...and remember: Not _one foot_ , out of place,"

The two nodded obediently at the warning. Knowing from experience that once their boss gives an order, she means it.

With that, the three went to their designated spots, with Emerald staying on the road as she prepare her...surprise, while Cinder and Mercury went to their hiding places in the trees to prepare for their parts in the ambush.

However, even the best laid plans can have the most stubborn of snags.

* * *

Unknown to the three, a pair of silver eyes was glaring at the three would-be ambushers with obvious hate. The owner of said eyes showed that they endured a lifetime of misery, pain, and heartbreak, especially from these specific three... they pretended to be friends, caused the deaths of best friends that were seen as family, and lead the world into ruin. All because of a Mad Immortal Queen's desire to destroy beings who were seen as Gods, and a man who she once looked up to, kept all knowledge about said queen and other very important information away from the world, all the while having made no plan to defeat her due to giving up.

The person reached behind their back, grabbing what looked to be a compact rifle. They pressed a button and the rifle suddenly turned into a large red scythe, with it being almost seven feet tall, and pieces of the gun on the staff.

 _'This is it...,_ ' were their thoughts, ' _I can deal with them here. I'll kill them, and stop them from getting the Fall Maiden powers from Amber, and stop the Fall before it happens... I can save them, I WILL save them!_ '

With that thought in mind and a steadfast determination, she waited as soon as the other two left Emerald on the road.

Then, in a blast of wind, the individual then launched themselves from their hiding spot, shooting off like a bullet... As a stream of red rose petals floated in their wake.

* * *

Emerald was getting her semblance ready for the trap, knowing that it needed to be perfect in order to fool the inexperienced girl who would be coming down the road at any moment.

But before that could happen, she felt something on the wind. Turning at the last moment, she caught a bit of red before she was knocked upside the head, by the blunt edge of a VERY large scythe.

Thankfully for her, her aura was still at full strength, and thus spared her from most of the impact. Otherwise she would've had a nasty concussion from just the blow alone. Of course, she was still sent still flying away.

The sound of their compatriot's yell of surprise, caught the attention of both Cinder and Mercury as they turn and see the unexpected guest.

The said person was wearing a red hooded cloak so they couldn't see their face, as they nimbly swung the scythe around, then slammed the blade into the ground and began firing high impact rounds at them, causing them to dodge to avoid getting hit. When they got close enough, the figure went back into close combat as they deftly wielded the scythe in one hand, while the other hand reached behind her shoulder, and drew a longsword, which had an elaborate gold crossguard & hilt, and a blue hand grip.

The clothing showed the figure of the interloper as a woman, the attire itself being a white high-neck décolletage blouse with brown studded wristbands on the arms. The rest of her outfit comprising of a black skirt with red tulle underneath, an overbust corset with a red strip holding it in place, and finishing it off, was a black belt, bordered in red, holding a string of bullets, and pouches, along with a magnetic clip that was clasped around her waist. Over that were pieces of combat armor, including a white gold trim pauldron on her left arm, showing this woman was ready for war.

"Who..." Cinder began to demand, only to be interrupted by the attacker's voice.

"I'm your worst nightmare...," the stranger said, steel in her tone. But what she said next, sent Cinder for a loop, "... _Cinder Fall._ "

The mystery woman began her attack, both blades narrowly missing Cinder with each swing. The false Maiden knew that this woman, whoever she was, was beyond her current skill level. Why?

Cause she saw the bitch was just TOYING with her. The longsword flew by her face, and Cinder was surprised when it actually cut through her aura and left a small cut on her cheek.

Meanwhile, Emerald, who had shaken off the dizziness after the hit to the head she received, decided to engage the mystery woman via by shooting at her with her kama revolvers. However, the woman did something none of them expected...she actually blocked them from hitting her with her aura alone.

They then saw something that further shocked them, as a pair of silver flames appeared under the hood illuminating her silver eyes.

Cinder's widened at what she was seeing in front of her, before she was snapped out of it when the stranger spoke again.

"You have no idea how long I've waited for this Cinder." The woman began to say, making the trio blink in confusion at that, "First thing I'm going to make you and your cronies suffer, and when I'm done with you, I'm going after your bitch queen, next,"

That made Cinder's eyes widen in shock. How the hell did she know about Salem? Did Ozpin tell her? She mentally scoffed at that, knowing that the old fool was too paranoid to tell anyone else about Salem, knowing too many people knowing will spread the word and cause a panic. Not to mention, from what Salem told her, that the man was afraid of people finding out about the big problem involving not dying.

Her thoughts were interrupted as the red cloaked woman charged at her again using tremendous speed, while roaring a battle cry, as she slashed at the False Maiden. The blades of the two weapons were wielded expertly by the woman, as they kept getting closer and closer.

Cinder realized one more thing... this crazy bitch was out for blood... Her's!

The sword's blade finally made contact, cutting deep into Cinder's arm, making her wince as the mysterious huntress went back a few steps, a smirk of satisfaction was seen on her mouth as she prepared the final blow.

Mercury and Emerald's eyes widened at what happened. they knew that Cinder was no slouch when it came to fighting, but this woman had her on the ropes. And now she was going to kill her.

Emerald, desperate to save the woman who gave her a purpose rather than just being a common thief, rushed in to help Cinder, only for the said mystery woman to spin and hit her again with the blunt edge of her scythe, and sent her into the fence, shattering it and caused her to bounce twice off the ground before stopping. Mercury came to support his teammate but was met with the same results, as the woman swept him off his feet with her scythe, before finally stomping him on the head, knocking him out temporarily.

The red hooded woman then turned back to Cinder, who was nursing her arm and gulped when she saw the stranger's focus back on her. She saw the woman begin to approach her, sword and scythe at the ready, as a smirk formed.

"No fire powers for you, you murderous c-" The mystery woman stopped suddenly, then grunted, before she began coughing... which sounded horrible if the hacking was any indication.

Cinder, along with Emerald and Mercury after they recovered from the beatdown they received, all blinked in confusion as they saw the coughing get worse, and the woman lost concentration. Her weapons dropping to the ground, as she dropped to her knees and grasping her chest as if in pain.

"NO! *cough,cough* Not...now!" the woman gasped out, as Emerald and Mercury got back their bearings. After a moment of confusion at seeing the woman on her knees coughing, they saw their chance and rushed at the woman, grabbing her arms and restraining her, "AGH!"

Cinder stood up, wincing a bit, while an arrogant smirk plastered itself on her face. She then reached into the pouch on her belt, where the glove Salem gave her was stored. Although it was a pain to put it on due to her now injured arm.

While a struggle, she managed to get the glove onto her hand. She was going to need a LOT of medical attention, soon-to-be Maiden or not. She walked up to the restrained Maiden as her hood was pulled off her head by Emerald, revealing mid back length black/red colored hair, with black being the root and red being the tip.

"You nearly killed me." Cinder actually complimented, "But in the end...I still win, Maiden."

The Maiden's response was to glare hatefully at her before spitting a mix of saliva and blood at her face.

"Go... Fuck... Yourself." She said spitefully, only to get kicked by one of Mercury's cybernetic legs, making her keel over, and making the coughing worse.

"Aww, now see?" Cinder said as she wiped the mixed spittle away, "That's the spirit!"

She then reached down and lifted the woman's head up by her chin, and looking into her silver eyes that showed a good amount of defiance.

"I never knew there was a _fifth_ Maiden power that featured silver flames around their eyes," Cinder said as she examined the now growling woman. "Definitely strange...but also fortuitous."

"Don't touch me!" the Red Hood snapped as she tried to jerk her head away, but couldn't as the coughing had weakened her, making her unable to wrench away from Cinder's grip.

Cinder chuckled in amusement at the girl's attempts to yank herself away from her, before a thought crossed her mind, "You know what? Despite not being who we were after, I think I'll just take your power anyway," she said while that sickeningly sweet smirk turned more sinister, "And if possible, I think I will keep you alive so I can take you back to Salem, so we can learn how much you know about us,"

With that she began raising her gloved hand, which the woman saw as her eyes widened with fright and tried frantically to get free, much to Cinder's sick enjoyment.

"No! No! NOO! DAMN IT! GET AWAY FROM ME!" the woman shouted again, thrashing desperately, just as as an insectoid Grimm appeared on the palm of the gloved hand. Mercury had to punch the struggling woman across the face to stun her, before grabbing the back of her head and make her face the Parasitic Beetle Grimm.

' _N-No...N...not like this_ ,' were the woman's thoughts as she saw the Grimm insect getting ready to steal the Maiden power from her. She cursed the condition she had as the pain was beginning to take it's toll on her, as she can see her eyes darkening. Tears fell from her eyes as they fluttered closed. ' _Everyone...I-I'm sorry,_ '

With that the woman blacked out just as Cinder was smirking in victory.

But victory was short lived. Before she could start the process, a shotgun blast rang out, followed by a storm of frozen leaves that forced Emerald and Mercury to let the woman go, as she slumped to the ground.

Soon a grey-black haired man with a sword and their original target, the Fall Maiden Amber, from their intel reports appeared and proceeded to beat the three away from their attacker.

' _For fuck's sake... Branwen?!_ ' Cinder cursed.

While she was an even match for him, she was wounded, and Qrow would mop the floor with Mercury and Emerald. Not to mention the OTHER Maiden with him.

' _Dammit! Just when I had the power of a maiden at the tip of my fingers!'_ she thought in confusion and anger. Along with that, thinking about what Salem told her about the Maidens, and how to identify them, via the flames around their eyes when they were using their powers...

...Ice Blue for Winter...

...Dark Pink for Spring...

...Yellow for Summer...

...and finally, their original target, Orange for Fall...

And the woman whose power she had just now failed to acquire...they were a pure silver...making her a FIFTH Maiden

She racked her brain for any logical reason this could be so...but right now she and her posse were dealing with an experienced huntsman, and they had all used up their aura fighting the unknown woman and thus decided the best course of action for this scenario...

...In other words, run away and not die.

"Let's get out of here!" Emerald and Mercury heard as they looked to her, "...We'll try another day!"

The two looked at her for a moment before they nodded in acknowledgment. With that the three of them disappeared, thanks to Emerald's hallucination semblance.

"Dammit!" Qrow shouted, "They got away!"

He then turned his attention to Amber who was now kneeling on the ground next to the woman who was now unconscious.

"She's blacking out, and coughing up blood." Amber said in worry, before she reached over and removed the woman's hood, which had fallen back over her head after they dropped her, and her features startled Qrow.

She had black mid-back length hair with red highlights, and her eyes, though half-lidded, were a deep silver.

She looked like his old teammate and friend from Team STRQ, Summer Rose. But Summer's hair was a darker hue, and that wasn't her weapon.

That was Crescent Rose, albeit it looked slightly banged up and modified, which belonged to his niece. The sword was a interesting touch, though.

But Ruby was 14, turning 15 this year. This was NOT her. The woman before them looked to be in her mid twenties at least!

Deciding it was best to ask questions later, Qrow pulled out his scroll as he began to type a text to Ozpin, while Amber tried helping the woman.

"You better get here fast, Oz...," he said to himself, before he heard something that made him stop cold.

"Uncle...Qrow,"

Qrow blinked in confusion, before snapping his gaze back to the woman as she held her hand out, eyes now open and struggling to remain so.

"Un...Uncl...Uncle Qrow," she managed to gasp out, her tone sounding desperate, "I...I'm...I'm sorry...I-I...I screwed up...please ...f-forgive... Me...,"

With those words said, her silver eyes rolled back into her head and went limp in Amber's arms, which then resulted in the young woman in trying to wake her up.

Qrow meanwhile, was at an absolute loss at what the woman just said to him.

"She's out cold...," said the Fall Maiden, "...we need to get her help."

The Red Reaper despite not understanding what's going knew that Amber was right and continued in sending his message to Ozpin.

' _Just what in the hell is going on around here?,_ '

* * *

 ** _Patriot-112: And first redo chapter done! As you'll all probably noticed, I decided to condense the prologue down, while also adding in more content. And, as you can see, I decided to do something a little... special, for Ruby. By this point, you're probably asking, what are Ruby's Maiden powers? Who gave them to her? Well, that would telling now would it?_**

 ** _You'll just have to wait till the next chapter peeps. Until then...later!_**


	2. Chapter 1: A Future Nightmare

_**Patriot-112: Wow...you all got to this fic really quick. But, that makes me happy!**_

 _ **Now a word of warning...there is a LOT of dialogue in this chapter than what you all saw in the previous version. Yes, I know, to some of you, long dialogue is boring as hell. But hey, gotta keep this long somehow. Anyway, let's keep it going shall we.**_

 _ **P.S.: Spoiler Warnings for those of you who are not caught up to V6.**_

* * *

 _ **Chapter One:**_

 _ **Future Nightmare**_

* * *

 _ **Beacon Academy Vault**_

 _ **Kingdom of Vale**_

 _ **Hours Later**_

* * *

Professor Ozpin, Headmaster of Beacon Academy looked on as the mystery woman brought in by Qrow and Amber was placed on the bed loaned from the medical wing. The doctors personally picked by him, immediately going to work in making sure she was stable, and keeping her alive.

He was joined by Glynda Goodwitch, telekinesis expert and teacher of Beacon Academy's combat classes.

The third member of the party was General James Ironwood, a cyborg who was loyal to his kingdom and the people of Remnant to a fault, but lacking in asymmetrical warfare experience.

And joining them was the said current Fall Maiden, and of course, Qrow himself.

"Just what exactly happened, Qrow?" Questioned Ozpin as the said Branwen twin sighed, and surprisingly, not once taking a gulp from his flask.

"In all actual honesty, Oz?" Qrow said, before looking at the currently incapacitated woman, "I don't have a Gods' damned clue. I received a tip that Amber was compromised and went to get her, but when I showed up at the place to meet her, I arrived at the aftermath of a battle,"

Amber then took over for Qrow. "She took on three people, one of whom had something that looked to be...Grimm in nature." the current Fall Maiden said, "She almost started what she was about to do before we intervened."

The current Fall Maiden then tapped her chin in thought

"Actually, it was strange really." Amber spoke again, making everyone turn to her, "I was riding on my horse when I felt the fight, then on our way here, and right now, at this very moment, I...I can actually feel the presence of Maiden powers within her,"

The two Headmasters, professor and the brother of Raven Branwen all had raised eyebrows at that.

"But how is that even possible?" James said, but before anyone could answer they heard one of the doctors, who was using a medical scanner feature on his scroll over the woman's chest, gasp in surprise, before his eyes widened in great concern before he rushed back to them.

"We have a problem," The man reported, and turned "Something is...trying to crush her heart and lungs. The scan seems to show it to be Grimm in nature, but...that's impossible."

The group all had wide eyes at that.

"A type of Grimm that can attack a human from inside the body?" Glynda said in horror, "How is that even-,"

Her analysis was interrupted though as the woman began to convulse again, catching everyone's attention, making the medical staff rush to hold her down, lest she hurt herself any further. It was made worse when she began coughing up blood. This caused everyone to begin panicking.

"Shit! Any ideas?!" Qrow shouted "Otherwise, we're gonna lose her!"

Ozpin turned and looked at the table where the woman's belongings were, including her red cloak, her weapons, and finally all of her accessory equipment, and other items. He briefly looks at the weapons before his eyes settled on a pouch on one of the belts. He moved over to inspect it, seeing a medical symbol detailing the Grimm mask of the scorpion like Deathstalker. He then proceeded to open the pouch.

Inside it were at least a dozen syringes. All filled with a kind of white Dust, though it was different than the usual medical versions. He took off the pouch and showed it to the others.

"I believe the pun is 'worth a shot'?" asked Ozpin, and Qrow took one, before walking over and shoved it into her heart, depressing the needle and injecting it into her body. The convulsions stopped and she laid back down, peacefully.

"Ok, I don't want to do that again... _EVER_." Qrow said with finality, as Ozpin turned to the cyborg Atlesian general.

"James, can you have your best doctors study this so they can mass produce it?" He asked, "We're definitely going to need a lot more to keep her alive,"

James nodded as he took the pouch, before more surprised gasps were heard and they turn back to the woman and their eyes widen as they see a silver glow appear briefly before vanishing.

"...That's impossible." Amber said in shock, "Those...those look like the powers of a Maiden! But...but it was silver..."

Ozpin showed one of his rare surprised expressions, clearly at a loss at what he's seeing.

"We're going to need a blood sample," he said, "That will tell us her identity."

One of the doctors heard him and did exactly that as he took an empty vial and extracted a small sample of blood, before going over to a data processing computer that was there.

"Yeah, because calling her 'Big Ruby' is just damn CREEPY." Qrow said, causing the others to look at him with 'WTF' expressions. The drunken scythe wielder sighed as he reached into his pocket, pulling out a scroll, "Here, I took it out of the carrying case on her belt while we waited for the Bullhead. See for yourself. Not to mention she called me Uncle Qrow before she went completely lights out."

Ozpin took the scroll from Qrow and inspected it, looking over every inch of it, spotting the Burning Red Rose emblem. It was Glynda who spoke out Ozpin's observations of the device.

"That's...that's a Beacon Academy scroll!" she said, "Albeit...it's a well modified one,"

Ozpin opened it, the screen turned on and immediately looked the woman's Identification.

The ID read 'Ruby Rose' along with the age, profession, blood type, and birthdate. Which wasn't possible. Ozpin then looked at the tab on the screen that got his attention the most, a vid file

It was titled 'Play me', which the point was obvious. So, Ozpin pushed the button.

After that a vid screen appeared on the Scroll. It was static at first until the face of the said woman appeared. Wide awake, but looking exhausted, and having a depressed look upon her face.

" _My name is Ruby Rose._ " The young woman introduced, " _I'm twenty five years old, born in the Kingdom of Vale, and a former Huntress student from Beacon Academy. If you're watching this, and you're not me, then something must've gone wrong,_ "

Qrow's first and only comment on the entire affair was this...

"No fucking shit." SMACK! "OW!"

He was just double slapped by both Glynda and Amber. The former with her riding crop.

Ironwood looked to Ozpin, while the said Headmaster of Beacon stopped the video to shake his head.

"This can't be possible." He said, his confusion clear to all in the room, "I have records from Signal: Ruby Rose is 15."

"Perhaps we should just let the video play." Glynda suggested, "It might explain more."

Ozpin nodded stiffly as he continued playing the video.

" _To tell my story, I will start from the beginning... Well, my beginning._ " she said, before perking suddenly, " _Be warned though, that I will leave some info out that will be for specific people, mostly personal information concerning Ozpin, and I will leave it to him whether he tells you or not._ "

The other three blinked at that, while the eyes of the Beacon Headmaster widened slightly.

" _On the day I was accepted into Beacon Academy, two years early by the way,_ " she said catching the four off-guard. Of course, they shouldn't be surprised since it was Qrow who trained her, " _At my initiation, I, along with my sister Yang Xiao Long, Weiss Schnee, and Blake Belladonna, formed Team RWBY, while several of my other friends, including Jaune Arc, Pyrrha Nikos, Nora Valkyrie, and Lie Ren, formed Team JNPR. Our First semester was nothing special, except listening boringly to Professor Port's younger day stories, trying to keep up with Professor Oobleck during his history lectures, and attending battle simulation classes with Professor Goodwitch. Just being the average students, all the while getting ready for the 40th Vytal Festival that school year._ "

Her mood then darkened instantly. " _But when it came, it all went to hell. Cinder Fall, a loyal lackey to a another nutjob named Salem, caused all sorts of hell by sabotaging the tournament and then unleashing the Grimm inside the city and stadium. Somehow, she turned Atlas' new robot soldiers against their makers, like some sci-fi show, which made matters...worse. My sister lost her right arm to that murderous BASTARD zealot, Adam Taurus of the White Fang - by the way, note to self, kill him as slowly as possible - while Weiss was taken back to Atlas, AGAINST HER WILL, I might add, while Blake tried to stay away from us to protect us from Adam, and to go back home to be with her family. Wasn't happy about leaving us like that, but it's the thought that counts._ "

Her eyes then suddenly took a more somber look. "We...also lost good friends that day," she said sadly as tears leaked from her eyes, " _The two most important... were Penny Polendina, a robot girl developed by Atlas,_ "

James' eyes widen at that, as he thought of the robot girl who was still in Atlas at the moment, but whom he planned to bring her to Vale later for the Vytal Festival. The others looked at the general as different thoughts went through their minds, but decided to wait to ask questions later.

" _...And...a-and,_ " they saw how it was difficult for her to speak as she gulped, looking ready to break down, " _...a-and Pyrrha_ ,"

That caused everyone to raise their brows at that. Especially Ozpin and Ironwood.

"Wait...?" Glynda said, having heard of the Mistralian regional champion, "Pyrrha Nikos...dead?"

Ozpin was also shocked by this, having heard of the gifted young girl from her Sanctum Academy records. Though a four time champion, Pyrrha was also kind hearted, intelligent, and possessed a great sense of duty. The Mistralian was actually Ozpin's choice if anything happened to Amber. However, he turned his focus back to the recording as the Elder Ruby continued.

" _From what Jaune told me...he followed after Pyrrha when she saw Professor Ozpin standing by the entrance to the tower, and just went toward him. They then went down into the vault where they saw a woman, who we later learned was Amber, in some sort of...pod or something like that. I don't know, some medical gadget made by Atlas,_ " She said, making everyone blink, with James thinking on Ruby's words, " _Anyways, then Ozpin instructed Pyrrha to enter one pod, while he told Jaune to stand guard...but when he turned away, a few minutes later, he heard Pyrrha screaming in pain, and turned back to see her in another pod, and was clearly in agony...however, because of his worry for her, he didn't see Cinder coming, and she...fired an arrow at Amber's pod, and killed her,_ "

Amber's reaction was obvious, as her eyes widened in horror while covering her mouth, stifling her gasp.

" _Then, after being told by Ozpin to get away, they escaped the Vault together to get help, only for minutes later, they saw Cinder ascend the tower, with no sign of Ozpin anywhere. After they figured out what happened, Pyrrha told Jaune to go get help, and once he realized what she planned to do, tried to stop her." she then blushed a bit, "And...well, let's just say that a woman's kiss is truly the bane of all men,_ "

They all blinked before finally realizing what she meant, causing the women to blush, and Qrow to actually gave a toast to the young Arc.

" _Of course, when they finished, Jaune then told me how she said...'she was sorry' and pushed him into a rocket locker before sending him away to Vale,_ " that actually made all of them more than concerned for the red haired champion, " _He called us when he landed in the city, and begged us to save her...I went after her, while Weiss used her glyphs to get me up the tower... I...arrive only to see Cinder put a fucking arrow through her chest, and then she just...burned her body to nothing. I...I-I was filled with so much...anger, grief...and a... terrible coldness... that I... I used my special power._ "

Cue wide eyes from Ozpin and Qrow.

" _Yes, I know about the silver eyes and what they do-_ " The woman stopped abruptly as she grabbed her chest, covered her mouth, and began coughing violently, making everyone watching concerned. They watched as she quickly grabbed a syringe and inject the same white dust into herself, and the glow of the Silver Maiden Power appeared again as she gasped for air, " _...s-sorry about that, I'll explain that later after I'm done with telling you what happens next. When I, unconsciously, used the Silver Eyes' power, I froze the Grimm Dragon at the top of the CCT tower. However, that bitch Cinder still managed to get away... but thankfully, not unscathed_ "

However, the frown never left her face, as if she wasn't proud of her achievement.

" _I still regret not getting to both Penny and Pyrrha in time, even now._ " she solemnly said, " _And I'll forever live with that, for the rest of my life,_ "

It was quiet for a moment before she lightly coughed. " _After the battle, Ozpin went missing both Team RWBY and JNPR were disbanded. The CCT went offline, rendering communications with the outside world impossible, and no repair crew can get close to it, due to the frozen but still alive Grimm Dragon at the top, along with the other Grimm it was drawing in now occupying Beacon. I managed to reunite what was left of JNPR, forming Team RNJR, and we left Patch to hunt her down. It took us over six months to reach Haven, and during that time, we learned of the true Mastermind behind the Fall of Beacon..._ " The screen switched out to a picture of the 'Grimm Queen'. Everyone looked at the picture of the being that was supposedly the source behind the Grimm. Her skin was pale as bone with dark red veins forming around her eyes, and arms which the whites were colored black and the irises crimson red. Ozpin looked at the image of the woman, and though he had a neutral frown, his heart still felt a twinge of remorse for what happened all those years ago due to his first death, " _Then when we reached Haven, after Qrow met up with us at Oniyuri and was injured by one of Salem's minions, Tyrian Callows, we attempted to meet up with Professor Lionheart and try to get any information on Cinder or the Spring Maiden...but, what we didn't know, was that he was working with Salem the whole time, and actually HELPED Cinder and her little posse infiltrate the Festival in the first place._ "

The five were horrified by that statement.

"W...What!?" Glynda gasped out, pure shock on her normally calm face.

"Leo's...a _traitor_!?" James shouted, completely at a lost, since he knew Leonardo Lionheart for years. Yes he was of the slightly scaredy cat type, but he never picked him the type to just betray everything and everyone he stood for.

Ozpin, though not new to betrayal, was still surprised that Leo betrayed them...though if he had to guess...it was done mostly out of fear.

Qrow was actually gripping his flask, truly not taking this well.

" _Yeah...Professor Lionheart actually helped Cinder in causing all the destruction and grief that descended on Vale..._ ," The Rose Reaper continued, " _Though...that was not all he did._ "

Everyone all felt a chill go down their spines at that.

"Oh shit...what else did he do?" Qrow said

It was not long for him to wait for the answer.

" _He also...gave every bit of information of all of Mistral's best Huntsman and Huntresses in the kingdom, including the Academy teachers._ " she then closed her eyes for a moment before opening them and continuing on, " _And with that info, and Lionheart's connections...Salem lead them all into traps, where her agents would be waiting...specifically, Hazel Reinhart and Tyrian Callows,_ "

Ozpin's grip on his cane slackened to the point where he almost dropped it, while the others of his inner circle and Amber all had varied reactions of shock and horror on their faces.

"No...no, he didn't...," Glynda gasped out.

"He...he helped her _kill_ them," James managed to breathe out as his robotic hand turned into a fist, the servos in it, whirling and groaning, "...every single one...all of Mistral's best Huntsmen and Huntresses...just gone,"

Qrow's anger intensified at that, wanting to go to Mistral, march straight into Haven, and ring that damn cowardly lion's neck. But he managed to keep himself where he was as they continued to listen to Ruby's story.

" _It was...a tough fight to say the least. Made worse, by the fact Raven, Yang's mom, was also there_ ," she said, making the Red Eyed Reaper gasp in surprise, even though he shouldn't be, " _We almost lost Weiss, when Cinder impaled her with one of her glass spears...though, thankfully, Jaune's semblance, Aura Amplification, kicked in just in time and he was able to save her. Then, another miracle happened, when Blake came back, along with Sun Wukong of Team SSSN, and a whole Faunus Militia, and the Mistral police, led by her parents. The White Fang who were there with Adam were overwhelmed and captured...but that bastard still managed to get away. With the momentum now on our side for a change, I had Yang go after Cinder. She came back later...and had the Relic of Knowledge with her...of course, when Emerald Sustrai saw this, she suddenly screamed and made an illusion...of Salem. It was enough to distract us as they escaped. But one good thing came out in the end...Team RWBY, my team, my friends, my family...we were back together again,_ "

They saw her take another breath before she continued, " _Two weeks of rest went by after that,_ " she said, " _After that period of rest, we then headed north, on the Argus Limited, in order to get to the Atlas Military stationed there and then find passage to the Kingdom itself and place the Relic of Knowledge in their vault...unfortunately, we ran into quite the snags on the way there, which involved Manticores and a Sphinx attacking the train, forcing us to split off from Jaune, Nora, and Ren, and separating half of the cars from the engine, then crashing our half...,_ " The four adults, plus one Maiden all facepalmed at that, " _... After the wreck, and...learning a few things like Jinn, who is a spirit created by the God Brothers, and who lived in the lamp, we then arrived at an estate called Brunswick Farms...though we later found everyone who lived there all dead...eerily still in their beds, and with no sign they had ever left them or any other signs of struggle,_ "

Though grimacing at the image, Ozpin and his colleagues immediately began thinking on what might've caused the entire estate to do that. Though the Green Wizard was a little curious and somewhat concerned about the...few things they may have learned.

" _We stayed there for the night, though, it was not very comforting._ " continued Ruby, " _Next morning, when we were about to leave, we were all just...tired...like, our willpower was just being sapped away...we even contemplated throwing the relic into the well...theorizing that it would take Salem years to find it._ "

All the adults were concerned at that part.

" _I was just about to, until I managed to snap myself out of it...only to get spooked...by a pair of familiar red eyes that caused me to... Accidentally drop the lamp into the well, ehehehehe_ " Ruby actually managed to put on a sheepish smile at that, causing everyone to face fault.

"You've gotta be kidding?" Qrow groaned out.

" _But thankfully we immediately went after at it...though, everyone was still acting apathetic to the whole thing... And it wasn't long when we found it, and came across what killed the entire settlement...a whole pack of Grimm called...the Apathy,_ "

Everyone's eyes immediately widened at that.

"The Apathy...of course, their known for their ability to drain willpower from their victims!" said Glynda, having read up on the zombie-like Grimm herself.

"And a whole pack of them...it's no wonder the settlement was so easily wiped out," James commented.

" _And second note to self, and to those watching this as well, if I ever go back to that place, drop a 750 pound 110 gallon napalm bomb in the water tunnels and burn the whole lot out!_ " she advised, and the group agreed with her advice, " _Anyway, we almost didn't make it out of there...but fortunately, an elderly lady we met after the crash and stuck with us soon after managed to help me in how to use my silver eyes...the power vaporized half of the pack, giving us time to get out. As we were leaving, the woman, Maria Calavera, revealed to us she once had silver eyes. Though... Tragically, she lost her eyes during her younger days, due to Salem sending her goons at that time to kill her...you probably heard of her, since Uncle Qrow based his scythe weapon off of hers,_ "

Qrow's eyes actually widened at that.

"What?...No way," he gasped out making everyone turn to him, "They...we...actually met...the Grimm Reaper,"

Everyone was stunned by that.

" _If you figured it out, yup, it's true. Maria Calavera, was the famous Grimm Reaper,_ " Ruby said, as she smiled in fondness, " _A note to you, if you can find her, please do so. Just show her a little respect...and show her a message I made for her. It will help convince her to come help teach my younger counterpart in how to use her eyes sooner,_ "

She then paused for a moment, before taking a deep breath.

" _After that near death experience, we finally managed to get to Argus, and met back up with Jaune and the others, with us ending up staying at his Oldest sister's place,_ " they then watched as she smiled at the though of meeting the Arc's sister, and her family, before it turned into a frown, and Ruby groaned. " _But...when we got to the Military Base...they immediately slammed the gates on our faces, due to the fact that after the Fall of Beacon, the other Kingdoms blamed Atlas due to the fact that Cinder had recorded the hacked Atlesian Knights attacking Vale Citizens, and this in turn forced General Ironwood to have the Borders closed and issued an embargo in place and enforced...and it was made worse considering who was in charge of the base...,_ "

James actually groaned in irritation at that.

"Oh no, _PLEASE_ don't let it be _her_...," he grumbled, but everyone heard as they looked at him questioningly.

" _And if you're watching this, General...yes, it's Caroline Cordovin_ ," said Ruby, and James just facepalmed.

"...Dammit...," he said, and Qrow asked the question that was on everyone's minds.

"Uhh, someone you know Jimmy?" he asked, and James didn't answer at first, but he soon did.

"Caroline is one of the more...fanatical members of the Atlas Military," he managed to groan out as he massaged the temples of his head, "And when I say fanatical, I mean FANATICAL. Of course, considering she's been in the Atlas Military for an VERY long time, it wouldn't surprise me that all the things she had done in her youth had gone to her head,"

"How long are we talking?" Qrow asked, and James tiredly replied.

"About six and a half decades,"

"..."

"..."

"..."

"You're kidding?" Glynda said incredulously, and the Atlesian general only shook his head.

"I'm dead serious," he replied, and sighed, "And after hearing this and how she is being described...I think it's time for her to retire,"

Ozpin nodded at that.

"That's probably for the best," the Headmaster of Beacon said in agreement before they continued watching the rest.

" _Not long after, and being shut out from the base, we had to find another way to get to Atlas,_ " Ruby said, and then scratched the back of her head, " _And Jaune, please don't be mad at him, suggested that we...steal...an Atlas airship?_ ,"

All the adults all had dumbfounded expressions on their faces at the Arc's, clearly, reckless plan.

"Uh, okay, is that kid serious?" Qrow asked, "From what I understand, Jim, stealing an Atlas airship is a serious crime in your kingdom,"

"It is...," James said, with a look of utter disapproval, before sighing, "...but, for once, given they would be in a desperate situation, I'll let it slide."

" _The plan so far went off without a hitch_ ," Ruby said, " _Weiss would pretend wanting to return to Atlas, but in actuality will smuggle in Maria, who is also a pilot, onboard. Blake would turn off the radar and the ship would double back for us...but we didn't count on Adam Taurus showing up and ruining the whole plan...obsessive bastard wouldn't leave Blake alone,_ "

The adults and one maiden were concerned about that, while Qrow sighed in irritation.

"Okay, I agree with what she said before," he said "Something needs to be done about that guy,"

" _And to make things worse...Cordo quickly caught on and came after us in her giant robot and nearly shot the airship down..._ " she said before frowning in disapproval, " _...right near Argus...near civilians...and had completely gone off the deep end,_ "

Ironwood just grabbed his face in frustration at that.

"Full retirement from public life, PERIOD," The general groaned, while Glynda placed a hand on his shoulder to calm him down.

"And let's hope the next one you put in charge of the Argus base is more...cooperative," Ozpin said, and James nodded.

"Believe me, I will make sure of that _personally_." James promised.

" _Of course, during the time she was busy trying to kill us...,_ " Ruby continued, while sighing irritably as well, " _...her staff at the base were watching and, like they were watching a wrestling match and being idiots, began to cheer her on...but at the cost of not watching their radar screens, and didn't see the Leviathan coming before it was too late...and we disabled the giant robot by taking out it's cannon._ "

Everyone's eyes widen at that, while Qrow just cursed at that.

"Great, a Leviathan...anything worse than that?" he asked, and his question was unfortunately answered.

" _And to make it worse, it attracted a a whole horde of flying type Grimm to Argus, including Chimeras and Sphinxes,_ " Ruby said, causing everyone to give Qrow a glare at that.

"What!?" he said defensively.

"Stop jinxing us!" Glynda scolded before sighing irritably before they turned back to the screen, though Qrow did grumble a little.

" _Knowing we couldn't just leave Argus to be destroyed by the Leviathan, we double backed back to the city on our..._ borrowed _airship,_ " Ruby said, while enforcing the word 'borrowed', " _When we got there, Ren used his semblance of emotion suppression to keep the Grimm off our backs as we got close, then, Weiss used her summoning semblance to summon a Queen Lancer for me to ride on, so that I could move around faster and give me time to use my eyes... it was a close call as I had the lamp with me, and it attracted the big bastard toward me... and in order to buy myself time, I called out Jinn's name in order to stop time, and let me concentrate..._ "

They saw her smile in fondness.

" _And thankfully, she understood, and said that because I didn't seek any knowledge, she said I had a free pass,_ " she said while chuckling, " _And so, after meditating on all the good things I had ever done with the people I cared for the most... my silver eyes finally activated, and I froze the Leviathan in stone. Of course, it managed to continue moving and proceeded to try and break itself free, had Cordo not arrived to finish the job. Despite her...questionable fanaticism, she still holds loyalty for the people. And General, if you're somehow deciding to have her retire, make sure she at least gets at least the honor she deserves._ "

Said General nodded at that, and decided to be not too harsh on the old woman.

" _After that, Cordo, surprisingly, let us go, and later we finally arrived at Atlas...though the sight of the entire Atlesian Air Fleet hovering over the city had us worried, as it was arrayed itself as if expecting an attack._ " This caused everyone to grow concerned at that, most notably Ironwood. " _And of course, when we landed, we were met by the General and an armed escort, before being placed on temporary house arrest, much to our chagrin. At least it was better than going to prison_ ,"

She then sighed as an angry frown formed on her face.

" _Of course, Weiss' father didn't help matters,_ at all _,_ " she growled, "A _nd then there's her brother Whitley, the little shit who everyone could not stand_ , not one bit. _Even made a_ very _degrading comment about Pyrrha, which caused Jaune to snap and would have beated the little snot to a pulp if we hadn't held him back._ "

"A _fter that, after speaking with the General on what happened at Haven and getting him to agree on keeping the lamp in their vault, we did exactly that...,_ " the glare on her face returned, " _Then, Cinder showed up again, along with Neopolitan, Roman Torchwick's partner. It was made worse when Tyrian showed up, along with Arthur Watts, the true mastermind behind the Atlesian Knights being hacked and turned against us,_ "

James' eyes widened at that name.

"Wait? Arthur Watts!?" he said in shock.

"Another person you know?" Qrow asked, and the Atlesian General and Headmaster of Atlas Academy nodded, his face still holding the shocked expression.

"He was one of our best scientists until he was caught doing unethical experiments on Human and Faunus test subjects!" he said, as his robotic fist clenched again. "I immediately issued a warrant for his arrest but somehow he anticipated this and managed to escape, even Winter couldn't find him! If he is in league with her, then that means she knows all of Atlas' secrets and weaknesses! And with Leo being a traitor as well, it's a sure bet he gave them his codes for the CCTN, and the entire system is now, most definitely, compromised!"

That... was a scary thought.

"We'll need to change the codes then, upgrade the security software, and quite possibly temporarily shut down the entire system," Ozpin said, and Ironwood nodded, before the Headmaster resumed the recording.

" _And of course, they weren't alone as they brought along an entire army of flying Grimm...including a new type of flying Beringels, with Nevermore wings on their backs_ ," Everyone gaped in shock at the imagination of the gorilla type Grimm with wings...and in horror at the thought of an entire army of them. " _The battle was tough as the Atlesian Air Fleet was driven to the limit... Until an old friend, I thought was long gone came back, as Penny, 2.0 to be exact, arrived and helped us out immensely. I was of course, happy to see her, but...the happiness was short lived as Weiss' sister, Winter, who we later learned was the Maiden of the same Season, was killed by Cinder._ "

James' eyes widened in horror, at the thought of his best subordinate, and the one whom he had picked to be the Winter Maiden, perishing at the hands of the psychotic fire witch.

" _And to make matters worse, Jaune was captured by Tyrian, and Cinder got both the Staff and the Lamp and taken them back to Salem's Castle in Drache,_ " she said sadly. " _Ren and Nora were most desperate to get him back, as were the rest of us. But then Salem sent one of her Seers to us, and said that if we wanted Jaune back, we had to give her the Sword of Destruction that was in Vacuo. And she gave us a month in order to make up our minds...or Jaune will join Pyrrha in the afterlife,_ "

The four were greatly concerned at that.

"Hooo boy...I have a feeling this will not end well." Qrow said, already knowing how this will turn out.

" _We immediately tried to form a plan on how to get both Jaune and the other relics back_ ," Ruby said, " _We knew it was not gonna be easy, and it might've been impossible, but, we had no other options available to us,_ "

" _I won't go into more details about the plan, in order to save everyone a headache, and also for you to think of a better one_ ," she said, " _After two weeks, and making a few stops along the way, we went to Vacuo, and after a bit of convincing the Headmistress there, we got the sword and made our way to Drache in order to 'make the deal'. *Sighs*...of course, when we arrived, Salem went back on her word on letting Jaune go, and...proceeded to have Cinder kill him, the same way that she killed Pyrrha. And thus the fight ensued, with us dealing with her goons and Cinder, while she went to the other relics, including the Crown of Choice that she managed to acquire after Cinder came back, and she went to Vale to get it,_ "

Ozpin could only grimace further, as his future failure was getting more and more discouraging, and filling him with more regret of his past actions.

" _Before I could go to stop her, Cinder stood in my way once again, and thus we began began our final duel...she...said things, that I can't all say in this one video alone, but...they more often than not reminded me of my failures in the past,_ " she said the last part sadly, before her face formed a steel-faced frown, " _Though unfortunately, in her case, that was the last mistake of her life, as with the power of my silver eyes, I destroyed everything Grimm on her, including her Grimm arm, and the parasitic beetle she used to steal the Fall powers. And after seeing her now ravaged body before me, I could only look at her with pity, before I just left her where she lay,_ "

Everyone looked at Ruby, all of them actually feeling a chill go down their spines at how ruthless she sounded. Though, they knew that in her defense, after losing so many people she held dear to her heart to a REAL psychotic bitch, you tend to get just as, if not more ruthless than the ones who did the deed.

" _I managed to find her in the castle, but she already began to summon the God Brothers. I tried to stop her but...it was too late and, they came back._ " Everyone felt a chill, as they waited for her to continue.

" _Salem...not wanting for them to speak just...attacked them, using the power of the Relics to fight them... more specifically, the Sword of Destruction. The God of Light was mostly her target, since she believed he was the reason why she was the way she was_ ," Ozpin actually winced at this, which caught the others attention but they didn't comment on it, " _However, the Older Brother was too strong, and she was stopped...but then, the God of Darkness, the younger brother he...he killed his own brother,_ "

Everyone's eyes widen at that info. Expressions of horror clearly written all over their faces. The most affected was Ozpin.

"...No..." Ozpin breathed out, as his cane dropped to the ground.

" _He then started..._ laughing _, telling Salem she and Ozpin had been useful puppets,_ " she said, as she shivered, " _This drove Salem into a rage, as she tried to kill him, but she...was then incinerated by the Younger Brother's fire breath, killing her instantly,_ "

Ozpin felt his heart shatter...despite what she had become, she was still the woman he had loved all those years ago, and who was the mother of his four children, who all were tragically lost on that fateful night, all those countless centuries ago.

" _Then to make it worse...he then decided to end his brother's legacy once and for all, and like before, he unleashed a wave of fire which washed over the entire planet...thankfully though, I was protected by Jinn and the Relic of Knowledge, which shielded me_ " She then closed her eyes as a grimace formed on her face, " _But, in the end, everyone else died. And...I was the last one left._ "

Everyone was not liking were this was going.

" _I was the last person to remain alive on Remnant, while everyone else...Human, Faunus, men, women, and... c-children alike were all wiped out...Remnant itself, no more than a wasteland now..._ "

They watched as Ruby wrapped her arms herself as she began to weep uncontrollably. Her eyes were closed, but tears still managed to escape.

" _I-I'm...I'm sorry, everyone...I'm so sorry... Yang... Weiss... Blake...Jaune...Pyrrha...Nora... Ren... Penny... Dad...Uncle Qrow...P-please, forgive me,_ " she sobbed out as the teachers all looked at the broken young woman before them.

Qrow fell onto his knees, as he grabbed his hair in anger. His niece had been through hell, that he hoped she would never have to go through. But unfortunately in this case, it did.

She stopped crying for a second, and she attempted to regain her composure. " _That was eight years ago now. The Grimm didn't die as they were originally created by the God of Darkness, but instead turned feral and more vicious after that. Just...more wild. I've actually been hoping one would kill me. One of them nearly succeeded: a Deathstalker. But...unlike ones I fought in the past, this one was incredibly different. One thing that caught my eye was that the colors were reversed, being dominantly white, and it was more well armored. I killed it, but not before it stung me. The initial sting caused me to pass out, and when I came to, I was surprised to be alive and immediately went back to my hideout to find out what it did to me...And to my horror, it wasn't normal venom, but something worse...a parasitic Grimm that I can't even use my silver eyes on._ " That revelation caused the adults to gape in shock at that info, " _And on top of that, like a snake, it's coiled around my lungs and heart...the coughing attacks and convulsions, are a result of that. Eventually, what I call the Strangler WILL kill me, but my unique maiden powers, a gift from a...special few individuals, who I will explain in another video, are holding it back. But they're at their limit: the attacks happen more often. I thus used special White dust developed by Atlas doctors in order to boost my aura and in turn my powers to counter it...however, eventually I'll run out, and... I'll die. Slowly, and painfully,_ "

That caused Amber and Glynda to gasp in horror, Qrow to grit his teeth in anger, Ironwood's cybernetic hand to clench even harder, and Ozpin to grasp his cane, which he picked back up earlier, very tightly.

" _At first, I was just willing to stop using the White Dust and just let the Strangler take me...so I can be with everyone I loved,_ " she said, as more tears ran down her face, " _I do not, and still do not, believe I deserve to live after everything that happened. I had failed everyone... my father, my mother, my sister, my friends, EVERYONE._ "

The adults were growing concerned, seeing as the now older Ruby, had a death wish. They then blinked in confusion as she smiled softly.

" _But...then I found hope. Or rather, it found me,_ " she said, before she stood up.

She then picked up the scroll the walked to a certain area of where she lived, before stopping in front of what looked like a bank vault. They heard her take a breath before she pressed a series of codes on the digital pad, before she pressed the enter button. Large clanking sounds could be heard, before the vault door itself opened, and they watched from Ruby's point of view as she walked in.

They then saw what looked like an ornate pillar, like the ones seen in the Emerald Forest Temple, and placed on top of it, was what appeared to be a ornate hourglass sand clock, but what caught everyone's about it, was the glowing green sand in the glass bulbs.

It was Ozpin who put it together.

"...A Relic...," he gasped out, "...but that's...impossible...,"

Everyone was stunned by what the Professor said, but didn't say anything as Ruby once again spoke, as one of her hands reached out and gently caressed the top of it.

" _If you're watching this Ozpin, yes, this is a relic..._ ," she explained, ". _..But, unlike the other relics that were made by the Brothers, this one of a few that were made by one of those special individuals I mentioned, and who gave me my Silver Maiden powers. Who are they you may ask?_ "

That was definitely the number one question in their minds.

" _Well, let's just say the Brothers have siblings,_ " she said, making the adults and one maiden to blink in confusion... before...

"...WHAT!?" they all shouted, scaring the doctors who were still looking over the out cold woman.

" _Yes, you heard me, the brothers have siblings...three sisters to be exact!_ " Ruby said, with extra insistence in her tone. " _And they have names too:...Dia, the Goddess of Time, Palk, the Goddess of Space, and finally, Gira, the Goddess of the Afterlife._ "

Everyone's eyes were now the size of soccer balls as the info they just received made their minds go into overdrive. But still, they didn't say anything as Ruby continued.

" _The relic you see right now, the Relic of Time, was made by Dia herself, and if you had guessed by her title...yes, it's a time machine, one I intend to use to go back, and change everything, hopefully to change events, or prevent them altogether,_ " However her face became crestfallen at that, " _However, like all Relics, it has limits on how much it can be used. In this case, the hourglass could only be used once every 200 years. Meaning, this will be a one-way trip. And...with my...ailment, something can go wrong real fast. That's why I put together a file on my scroll, as a final gift to you, should I...not succeed. And I would also bring the other two Relics with me, but I hide them, and the hourglass away at secret locations in order to keep them safe._ "

Qrow looked at the woman on the bed, now feeling greatly worried and protective.

" _During the past ten years, since the Fall of Beacon, I've gotten better with more than just my beloved sweetheart Crescent Rose,_ " Ruby said, getting their attention, " _I can now also wield swords, handguns, and other weapons...Plus, I finally can do hand to hand. Beat that, Yang! Hehehehe...Ahem, sorry... where was I? Oh yes! And I know how to design and forge armor, and design better weapons._ "

Qrow couldn't help but smile in pride in how far Ruby would come in her profession as a huntress and a weapon smith.

" _The file for the schematics, and the file for the relics and their descriptions and their abilities, are locked under a password... which only I know unfortunately,_ " she said sheepishly, scratching the back of her head, causing everyone to sweat-drop, " _Of course, the only hint I can give you is that it's an old nickname I got on my first day at Beacon after an...err...embarrassing moment_ ,"

She suddenly started sniffling, while still smiling all the same. " _Dad, Uncle Qrow, Yang, Blake, Weiss...everyone...I love you all. And know that I will NEVER forget you, or the happy times we enjoyed... At Patch, at Beacon, and all throughout Remnant... This is Ruby Rose, signing off. No turning back, now._ " The vid ended, leaving them all stunned.

"Well...still the same Ruby, in spite of her...brokenness." Qrow said as he looked at the young woman, just as the doctor came back. His face showing disbelief

"Professor Ozpin, the test results came back positive," the doctor said "It's... a one hundred percent perfect match. This woman is who she claims to be. She's the real Ruby Rose,"

It was silent for a moment, before Qrow stood up, and taking a longer than usual gulp from his flask, before putting it away. He then walked over to the hospital bed, and bent down before placing a comforting hand on her head.

"Someone is going to have to tell Tai he has a _third_ daughter." Qrow laid out, while Ozpin nodded in agreement.

"More then that." He said, "We need to protect her. James-"

"I will bring in the best I can spare." the Cyborg said with a nod, "I would assign Winter, but unfortunately, I need her to help look for the ones responsible."

"It would also be a personal conflict: her sister is, or _WILL_ be, on young Miss Rose's team." Glynda pointed out.

That was a given now: Ozpin knew he was NOT changing that. He'd rig the whole thing if he had to: Team RWBY would come into being.

"I'll also send some specialists who I can trust to find that hourglass, and if possible, the other Relics," James said, before reminding himself, "What about the other team? Team JNPR?"

"I don't see why they shouldn't be formed, either." Ozpin said and then looked to Ruby. "She came from a hellish future, with the full intent to change it. And she was willing to die for it."

"Yeah. But she's now VERY vulnerable," Qrow growled out, "That bitch knows that Ruby is no longer able to defend herself. She'll be back for her, not just to finish what she started by taking her Maiden powers, but to no doubt find out what Ruby knows. And if she succeeds, the world's toast,"

Amber stepped forward. "If it's alright with all of you, I'll stay to protect her. In a way, she's a sister. And I'm not going to let her fall into their hands."

Ozpin nodded as the two left, Ironwood nodding to the headmaster before leaving, with only Glynda and himself remaining behind.

"And what about Team RWBY and Team JNPR? Should they know about this?" Glynda said as she looked at the Elder Ruby in concern.

"When they're ready, we'll tell them." Ozpin decreed, "But not one moment before. They're involved, Glynda, whether we want them to be or not."

He then looked at the scroll, and blinked when he saw that Ruby made more than one video entry. Pressing the button, it showed a list with names, which included the said teams as well as a few others, including himself. Ozpin smiled sadly as he looked back at the young woman lying motionless and vulnerable on the bed.

"You truly are an interesting person, Miss Rose," He said, before placing a comforting hand on her forehead, like a caring father to a daughter, "I have no doubt, your mother will be very, VERY proud of you,"

* * *

 _ **Patriot-112: And done! And the finale of V6 was fantastic! I will not spoil you all, but I know once you see it, not only will it fill you with a sense of victory, but nostalgia of the past volumes as well.**_

 _ **Until next time peeps. Later!**_


	3. Chapter 2: Young Rose

_**Patriot-112: Well, another chapter, and already a few annoying apples are making the scene...I'm talking about you, GladiusInvidia.**_

 _ **To answer your comment with a question of my own: How else was Ruby gonna explain everything what will happen, and who she is, hm? If you still stand on your decision, then I'm so sorry that I disappointed you.**_

 _ **Anyway, while he, or she, thinks on that, let's continue with the fic shall we?**_

 _ **P.S.: For those reading, this will be the last chapter I'll use another episode fully in this fic. The rest will be more original.**_

* * *

 **" _Never underestimate a small honest soul...especially one armed with the most dangerous weapon imaginable_ ,"**

* * *

 _ **Chapter Two: Young Rose**_

* * *

 _ **Kingdom of Vale**_

 _ **Dust til Dawn shop**_

* * *

It was a quiet night in the city of Vale. A majority of the populace went home for the night, while the only ones still up and about, were the police on graveyard shifts and a few shops and stores. One shop in particular, was the From Dust til Dawn shop, which sold a wide assortment of Dust, Dust Crystals, and other accessories related to the said material, to Hunters and Huntresses.

The owner, who was quite old, stood at the counter, waiting for a customer. Except for that nice girl in the back who was reading a magazine, albeit strangely reading on the next big weapon deals for Hunters.

The front door opens, and in came a man wearing a white suit and a black bowler hat, orange hair covering his left eye, escorted by men wearing red sunglasses and black suits with red ties. The man in white looked around before talking to the owner.

"Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a Dust shop open this late?" Roman Torchwick, the top thief in all of the Four Kingdoms of Remnant asked, as One of the goons pointed a gun at the old man.

The threat was clear as the old man raised his hands in alarm, "P-please! Just take my Lien and leave!" he begged while the orange haired leader patted the air and hushed at him.

"Calm down, we're not here for your money." Roman said to him in order to calm him down, and not be the cause of a heart attack for the old geezer, "Grab the Dust."

Two of the goons nodded as they went to the Dust Dispensers, canisters in hand. Another of the crooks placed a case on the display counter in front of the old man.

"Crystals. Burn. Uncut." The thug demanded, and the old man hesitantly did what he was told. The other goons looked around the store gathering more dust, while making sure there was no one else. One of them however, spotted the said girl in the back reading a magazine.

He approached, drawing his red blade. "Alright kid, put your hands where I can see 'em." The hooded girl did nothing, which agitated the goon, as his brow furrowed and he gritted his teeth, "Hey, I said hands in the air! You got a death wish or something!?" He put his hand on her shoulder, before turning her around.

The said girl looked at him, silver colored eyes looking confused, as a pair of earphones were on her head and were playing music.

"Huh?" was the only thing she said, while the goon gritted his teeth as he motioned to his head, meaning to take the damn things off, which the girl did so, and gave an innocent smile.

"Yes?" she asked.

"I said, put your hands in the air, now!" The girl, Ruby Rose, raised an eyebrow at the threatening gesture.

"Are you... robbing me?" she asked.

The goon, frustrated beyond all hope, just simply shouted, "YES!"

The girl then gave a devious smirk at that, "Ahh..."

Back at the front counter, the man in the white suit was inspecting a red dust crystal when he heard one of the grunts give a pained shout and flew right passed him into some merchandise by the window. He rolls his eyes, before he signals another one of the goons to go find out what the problem was.

The thug did exactly that, and upon seeing the red hooded teen, he raised his gun up and pointed it at her.

"Freeze!"

Seconds later, he went flying out the window, causing Roman and the rest of his hired muscle to look out into the street. As Ruby stood up, she already her favorite weapon, and beloved sweetheart, out and deployed when she landed outside, after kicking the thug out before twirling the scythe around a few times, and planting the blade itself into the ground, pointing the weapon at the store. The man and the goons looked at the little Reaper through now smashed open window in both confusion and surprise.

The girl, realizing that the music was still playing, turned off her headset.

Roman, understandably, was not expecting this as he looked at the red cloaked girl with a raised brow.

"O~kay~..." His hired goons were just as stupefied.

If not more so. He then looked to the goons he hired for this job.

"Get her." he growled out, motioning with his head for extra emphasis.

The said crooks did as ordered as they went outside to deal with the little pest who got in the way of their heist. And thus, one of the men rushed toward her in order to slash her with his sword, only for the red hooded girl to nimbly jump up and double kicked him in the face sending back toward the shop wall. Another one tried to attack her from behind only for the girl to fire her weapon sending her into a spin, which the scythe caught one of the goons sending him into the air, before. The final grunt begun firing his Dust Pistol at her, but the girl just nimbly dodged the bullets before charging in and sent the goon back, landing at Roman's feet.

Roman groaned. "You were worth every cent. _Truly_ , you were." he said sarcastically, knowing truthfully, that they weren't worth the shit that came out of their asses.

Torchwick's just sarcastic that way.

He dropped his cigar on the ground, before putting it out with the cane he held. "Well, Red, I think we can all say it's been an eventful evening, and as much as I'd _love_ to stick around..." He leveled the cane with Ruby, the end flipping upwards and serving as the sights for the projectile mode.

"I'm afraid this is where we part ways." with that, he pulled the trigger as a red flare shot out of the cane and straight toward the girl, who used her weapon to get out of the way... though the street was not so lucky. After she landed the young teenager looked around for Torchwick, before spotting him climbing up a fire escape ladder to the roof of a nearby building.

She looked toward the old man who came out of the shop.

"You okay if I go after him?" she asked, and the old man only nodded, as Ruby continued with the chase.

* * *

Roman was not pleased. Not one tiny bit. A trainee huntress fouled up the ENTIRE heist. She was good, that was for sure, but was still an inexperienced brat nonetheless.

"HEY!"

And unwilling to let him go, it seems.

"Persistent..." he groaned out as Ruby readied her scythe rifle, Crescent Rose, but a Bullhead VTOL ruined her plans to take Torchwick down as he climbed into it once the side hatch opened.

The criminal leader picked up the red dust crystal from his pocket and threw it at the feet of the red hood wearing teen.

"End of the line, Red!" Roman shouted and then took aim and fired Melodic Cudgel at the crystal. Just before the round hit it however, another figure jumped in front of Ruby, arm outstretched as a seal glyph appeared in front of them, acting as a shield therefore protecting them from the explosion.

While Roman laughed in victory, his smile was soon wiped off his face as he spotted the newcomer.

The semi-tattered cape and business-like attire combined with the glasses and the riding crop that still gave Roman nightmares at night, and it identified her as Glynda Goodwitch.

And two words were mentally spelled out for him in his brain, ' _...oh fuckery_ ,'

After the glyph faded, Glynda then gave a flick of her wrist sending beams of purple light at the Bullhead transport, scoring some hits on it, and nearly making Roman lose his balance as he stumbled toward the cockpit.

"We've got a Huntress!" Roman said to the woman piloting.

Flying the Bullhead, was none other than Cinder Fall, clad in a new dress, but was now sporting some shadows under her eyes, due to lack of sleep.

She then stood up from her seat as she readied her bow and arrows in order to deal with the pests.

But unfortunately, things were about to go down differently.

When Cinder rushed to the back, instead of firing arrows at them...

She froze as her amber eyes widened in horror as she spotted the person next to Goodwitch.

Red hooded cape, silver eyes, and a High-Caliber Sniper-Scythe Rifle. Cinder began having VERY inconvenient flashbacks to her failure before she began muttering frantically.

"Oh Oum, oh Oum, oh Oum." She then looked to Torchwick, flying the Bullhead in her place. "FLY TORCHWICK, FLY!"

"What?!" Roman said, looking at the now scared woman who snapped her head to him, her eyes wide in both anger and fear.

"DO AS I SAY!" She screeched, making the master criminal do as she says and began to hit the pedal to the metal. Glynda watched as the Bullhead sped away, while blinking confusedly at what she managed to see in the passenger area of the transport.

Glynda did not know what the hell just happened, but right now though...

"You're a huntress!"

Glynda turned to look at the girl, and she had to be honest with herself, the Younger Ruby Rose was not what she expected. Instead of the tired, depressed looking woman, she saw a energetic, lively child, with the added innocence to boot.

"Can I have your autograph!?" she said cheerfully, making the female professor blink before sighing...and gripping the young teenager by the ear.

"Owowowowowowowowow! That hurts! What did I dooooooo!?" Ruby cried, while waving her arms frantically, as the Deputy to Ozpin led the Little Rose off the roof.

* * *

Back on the Bullhead, Cinder was sitting down as she had her hands on her head.

She was there, right there. Same face, same colored hair, same eyes, and same weapon.

' _She can't be there. She can't be... nononononono, she wasn't coughing. No cough, the outfit was wrong- oh who the fuck am I trying to kid?! IT WAS HER!_ '

After a careful examination of just how _BADLY_ she was humiliated by the red cloaked woman, Cinder has developed what a small few refer to as erythrophobia.

While it means 'fear of the color red' in two old languages, to Cinder, it refers to her fear of the one woman who tried to kill her, and whom had almost succeeded. She could still remember that murderous look in that woman's silver eyes, the way she swung her scythe and sword in order trying to slice her head off, the feeling of the longsword as it cut her cheek and slashed her arm. Though she was saved by the strange cough the woman had, and she had the bitch at her mercy... till that drunk moron Branwen showed up along with the Fall Maiden, Amber and had prevented her from taking the powers of the other Maiden.

That didn't please Salem at all...not _one_ bit.

"Hey! Are you okay back there!?" said Roman from the cockpit.

"Just keep flying back to the hideout Roman!," Cinder said, but as soon as she heard him begin to speak again, she snapped again. "NOW!"

"Yeesh! Okay, okay!" the thief said, actually startled by the vicious tone in her voice, "Damn! What the hell is the matter with her?"

Cinder only continued to remember that day, when she was almost killed, and how she swore she will get back at her...somehow.

"I'm your worst nightmare," she heard her voice in her head, "...Cinder Fall."

The woman only gave a muffled scream as the Bull head continued on it's course back to the hideout.

* * *

 _ **Meanwhile at Beacon**_

* * *

While they weren't in-laws anymore, Taiyang Xiao Long still liked seeing Qrow Branwen around from time to time. Mostly to have a good drink and reminisce about the good old days with the two women that Taiyang had ever loved...Qrow's sister Raven, and the white hooded cloaked Summer Rose.

Of course...until Qrow, quite literally, dragged him to Beacon straight from his home. While he was ASLEEP in bed. So, yeah, right now, he was greatly annoyed with his friend from Team STRQ having woke him up in the middle of the night, and dragged him from his home in Patch and toward Beacon.

"This better be good, Qrow," Taiyang grumbled, yawning, all the while looking around the Academy he hadn't seen in years, "You and Ozpin better have a good excuse for waking me up at _ONE THIRTY_ in the morning!"

"Oh, TRUST ME, Tai. You'll _love_ this." Qrow said, with sarcasm mixed in, as he led Taiyang into the building, ignoring their combined memories of MUCH better times.

Summer Rose and Raven Branwen should've been there with them. But Raven, unfortunately, was being Raven, following her eschewed version of survival of the fittest, while Summer just vanished, and was presumed dead. Both women gone had torn the two men up, mostly for Taiyang because he lost TWO women he loved very much. And thus why he was so protective of BOTH of his girls. Both of them, being the spitting facial images of their respective mothers.

Qrow was SO going to beat the living shit out of Raven for running off like she did. Not to mention for the future stunt she, he had no doubt, would pull.

"And what is it that'll make me love it, how?" he said, as they entered the main tower.

"I'll let Oz, explain." Qrow said, "But, to be honest, you're gonna be as frantic as mega shit."

The pair entered an elevator, but it went down instead of up. This confused Taiyang as he blinked at the elevator's descent.

"Did Ozpin move his office?" he asked confusedly.

"We're not going to his office. This is a little bigger than just our favorite redhead being admitted here two years early." Both flinched at that. Their real favorite redhead was Summer, but she was...gone. Ruby, reluctantly for them, took up the title. Though, they still cared for her greatly, especially since the 'incident' concerning a formerly obsessed Yang who was desperate to find her birth mother.

The lift stopped before the doors opened and they exited, entering a large vault.

"What the hell...?" Taiyang said, but Qrow just motioned for him to follow, and the two walked on, as Taiyang saw in the middle of the room what looked like a mobile hospital room. And it was being guarded by Atlesian soldiers, who wore the signature armor, but the uniforms underneath were pure black.

Outside the said unit was Ozpin himself, along with Glynda, with both of them having 'grim' expressions.

"Taiyang, good of you to come here," the Headmaster greeted.

Taiyang blinked at the expressions the two professors had.

"I'm a little peeved you had Qrow wake me up in the middle of the night," he said, while glaring at said drunken friend, "But since I still have respect for you, and still see you as an old friend, I'll let you explain what the Hell's going on,"

Ozpin sighed as he motioned to follow him, leading him away from the mobile hospital to a table which a few items were placed. When Taiyang approached it, he saw some familiar things that made his heart stop for a moment.

A red cloak, a collapsed HVSS, a medicine pouch with a Deathstalker mask stamped on it, among other items, including a damaged handgun, what looked like a piece of Yang's Ember Celica gauntlets and a burned white handguard for a Multi-Action Dust Rapier. And then there was the Longsword was currently placed in it's sheath, the scabbard colored white with gold trim, and the handle of the sword, covered in blue dyed leather.

Taiyang felt something drop in the pit of his stomach, as dread filled his system while looking at the objects. Two of them, in particular.

"What in the great name of the holy Oum am I looking at?" Taiyang said, nervousness in his tone.

Ozpin then sighed as he brought out THE scroll, and showed it to Taiyang who looked at it, and his eyes widened at the symbol. A burning rose.

He then watched the Headmaster open it, and hit the file titled "Vid Messages" and then began playing the message.

The image appeared and Taiyang's eyes widen slightly as he saw a woman who looked like his presumed dead love. One of them, really. Especially the eyes and hair color. He saw the woman take a breath as she looked a little unsure.

" _Ok...well, here goes nothing._ " the woman said, " _Hello, dad. It's me. Ruby. I'm sorry. Sorry that I'm probably never going to properly apologize for this. Sorry that it all ended this way._ " Said the Elder Ruby, while Taiyang blinked, " _Now before you go into denial, and start ranting like a moron, I will tell you something that only you and I know. The time we found Zwei, and how I begged you to let me keep him. Not even you can resist the power of the Sad Puppy Dog Silver Eyes,_ "

Taiyang said nothing as he remembered that day well, and the only other person to know about it was Yang, who would never stop laughing her ass off at the story.

" _Now that that's out of the way, I'm going to have to be blunt. You need to protect Yang._ " Taiyang blinked at that, " _The leader of the White fang nearly killed her during the Vytal Festival, which will take place in the fall. She got payback...though, she didn't alone... since she and her partner, Blake Belladonna both delivered the blow that put him down for good._ "

Taiyang then looked at the fragment on the table. It didn't look like part of Ember Celica. It _WAS_ part of Ember Celica.

" _If you've seen the fragment of Ember Celica...it was all I could find of her after... the end of the world_ ," Ruby, making Tai wonder what she meant by that.

He then saw Ruby pause as she begin to tear up, before speaking again _"However, I won't go into it... Because I'm gonna make things right again. I'm gonna change everything, Dad. Though I might not make it through this, I'm not afraid to die...it's the least I can do, for failing everyone,_ " she said sadly, " _If you haven't watched my first video message, I suggest you do to get the full story. I will never forget all you taught me and Yang while growing up, and...*sniff* well, I hope you understand what I'm about to do. I guess I'm more like mom that way, hehehe. Anyway, I gotta go now, bye dad..._ "

With that the recording ending.

"Where the hell did you-" Qrow grabbed Taiyang and forced his head to look at the medical pod. Inside it was the woman in question. A near clone of Summer, although this was not her. The voice he had heard, while similar, was too close to Ruby's.

"She came back via an old Relic that is also a time traveling device." Qrow laid out, as he sighed "Apparently, time travel isn't relegated to science fiction anymore. Ironwood's already got people out looking for it, just in case something bad does happen at the Vytal Tournament. After she arrived here, she just swooped in and attacked a bunch of fanatics. Nearly killed them too, if it weren't for-" The Elder Rose began coughing violently again, as if on cue. "Ok, THAT is getting both disturbing _and_ fucking annoying."

Taiyang immediately got frantic as the doctor inside the tent gave her an injection of something and she immediately calmed down, and a silver glow afterward appeared, shocking him.

"What the FUCK did I saw just now!?" Taiyang shouted, "What's wrong with her!?"

"Some kinda Grimm parasite. And it's slowly killing her." Qrow said, making Taiyang pale in worry, "That dust and her special Maiden powers-"

"What!? How?" the said blonde interrupted, prompting a glare from Qrow.

"I'll explain later. Now shut up." Qrow growled, while Taiyang did so. "The dust and the powers are holding it back. Though it's just barely. Eventually, it's going to kill her,"

That made Taiyang become increasingly terrified, as Qrow continued.

"And if that's not bad enough, she's been having nightmares ever since she went into a coma." he said, and held up his hand before the instructor from Signal could ask, "Don't ask me how that works. I'm not into that medical mumbo jumbo,"

Taiyang looked back toward the Elder Ruby... HIS Ruby.

No matter when or where she came from. Past, future, or present, she was still his daughter. He closed his eyes tightly as he clenched his fists.

"Can't you get it out of her?" he ground out, looking at the two other men while Ozpin sadly shook his head.

"Not without unintentionally hurting her more, or...worse," he said, "But I promise we're doing all we can to help her,"

The father of Ruby and Yang looked back at his daughter, helplessness and sadness showing in his eyes.

"Can I just...talk to her?" he asked, while Qrow and Ozpin nodded.

"Well, go ahead." the former said, "Grimm infection's not contagious, as far as we know."

Without further hesitation, Taiyang entered the isolation tent, where Ruby was laying and sat down in the chair that was offered. He was quiet for a moment before he began to speak to her.

"Ruby...It's me. Dad." he said as he reached out and grasped her hand, "I don't know if you can hear me, hell this entire situation is INSANE. I mean, time travel? Maiden powers? I was happier with just the Grimm being our only pain in the ass."

He then gave her hand a comforting squeeze.

"But...I'll be here for you. I'll do whatever it takes to get you well again." He then began to gently caress her hair, "Just, try to hang in there...okay?"

Ruby then began to whimper as tears escaped from her closed eyes. But then to the shock of everyone, she managed to gasp out one word.

"...D-Daddy...,"

Taiyang felt tears stinging his eyes as he gave his daughter a kiss on her forehead.

"That's the first thing she said since she came here," Taiyang looked to the entrance, seeing Ozpin, sans mug. "She had been completely unresponsive, until now."

Taiyang then looked at the older version of his daughter...of course, he could say his now third daughter. His eyes were hard as he silently vowed to beat the crap out of the people who did this to her.

"I'm staying here." Taiyang said resolutely, "She's my daughter, future or not."

Ozpin pulled out his scroll.

"I figured as much." The Headmaster said, "Amber is staying here to protect her fellow Maiden, but I need Qrow in the field. As such-"

"Just sign the damn transfer papers already." Taiyang said impatiently. Ozpin smiled slightly as he shook his head at the over-protectiveness of the father.

"Impatient as always, Mr. Xiao Long." he said, while Taiyang's eyes hardened, even though there are a few tears.

"When it concerns my family, I don't have the time for patience." Taiyang said, "I'm gonna make sure I'm here to protect my girls! All THREE of them! And whoever did this is gonna wish they were never born if they ever cross my path."

Ozpin smiled, as he nodded and finished the transfer order "Welcome to Beacon Academy...Professor Xiao Long,"

Taiyang only gave a stiff nod, before Qrow spoke up again.

"She also gave us info on a very important person she told us about in the first message who could help us out in the future, and I'll be going to Anima to find her," Qrow said, while smirking, "And you will not believe who it is,"

Taiyang blinked and looked at his former brother-in-law.

"Who?" he asked, though Qrow didn't say anything. Only giving his weapon a fond tap on Harbinger's hilt before turning around and leaving a confused Xiao Long to think for a moment, before his eyes slowly widened in realization.

"...oh,"

* * *

The Grimm Lands of Drache, the former lair of the God of the Darkness, and the original birthplace of the monsters that bore it's name. It is a wasteland where few humans go, and even fewer come out alive.

In pools of the black, tar-like ichor, new Grimm are being born every minute.

It is in this domain, where a certain Grimm Queen lived, said person was NOT happy with a certain would've been Fall Maiden. She had sent her apprentice to steal the powers of the Fall Maiden so that they can be used in the future war to come with her former love. But instead, they'd been ambushed by a woman, who was very skilled, and wielded the EXACT same type of powers as the girl Amber used. Of course they managed to restrain her, but unfortunately, one of Ozpin's damn cohorts got to them before they can extract the maiden powers. So, yeah, she was NOT happy at all.

"I gave you _one_ mission, with _one_ objective, Cinder." the Grimm like woman said calmly, as the woman in question fidgeted. "Claim the Fall Maiden's power, in order for our plan to succeed. Yet you _failed_."

"I ran into difficulties-" Cinder tried to explain only to be cut off.

" _One_ girl. _Another_ Maiden." Salem growled, her red eyes glowing menacingly, "A Maiden with a different power altogether, which makes no sense. Since from my knowledge, there are suppose to be only Four Maidens. _FOUR_ , not _five_!"

Cinder had the nerve to feel embarrassed. Not only being defeated and humiliated, but also greatly mentally scarred.

"I saw her use the same powers, just like the Fall Maiden, Amber. But unlike the Fall Maiden's, and the others you told me about, they were colored silver. She even blocked the Dust bullets from Emerald's pistols," she said, before flinching at the Grimm Queen's glare, as she turned her head toward her. "She...she knew who I was...and she knows about you."

Salem paused, her eyebrows rose slightly. "What? Only Ozpin and his little group of ignorant followers know of me."

"But she _mentioned_ you! She said that after she killed me, you were next! And she-" Cinder was cut off began hyperventilating. This was more and more common nowadays. Her panic-attacks made her relive the debacle.

While it would look entertaining for some for others, like a certain psychotic scorpion or arrogant Atlesian scientist, it was most certainly not for Cinder.

"Get a grip of yourself, Cinder!" Salem ordered, and that somehow managed to get the once confident woman to stop. "Despite this setback, it does not stop the plan to bring fear and chaos to Remnant, and to get the Relics. We just have to use the White Fang more than usual. Of course, I had no choice in meeting Adam myself in order to convince him," Her apprentice winced at that, before Salem then looked at Cinder, "However, this girl intrigues me. You said she had Silver Eyes, the same color as her powers, correct?"

Cinder nodded at that. "...Yes. I can never forget."

She watched the Grimm Queen's eyes narrowed at that. "Then that adds another priority objective for you to accomplish, then," she said, causing Cinder to blink.

"Your Grace?" she said.

"You are to search for the girl during the time the 40th Vytal Festival is about to begin." Salem stated, as her red eyes began to glow dangerously red, again, "You _WILL_ find her. Claim the Maiden Powers from her, but you _WILL_ bring her to me, _ALIVE_! Is. That. Clear?"

"Y-Yes, ma'am!" Cinder stammered obediently, she may fear the woman who just nearly bested her, but she feared Salem, more so.

She had NO idea what the immortal queen would do to her, if she so much as failed once again. And to be honest, she didn't WANT to know.

So she would obey, even if it killed her. Which it probably would.

"Good, you can go now," she said, and Cinder nodded and began to leave, "Oh, and Cinder...if you shall fail me again, I will NOT be as merciful. Understand?"

Cinder didn't say anything, but quickly nodded as she hurried out, not wanting to give Salem an excuse to change her mind.

* * *

 _ **Meanwhile.**_

 _ **Unknown Realm.**_

* * *

 **"Well sisters, it has begun once again"**

 **"Indeed it has... However, our little Rose is currently incapacitated to do anything,"**

 **"Which is the reason, why we sent them back after her,"**

 **"Where are they, now, if I may ask?"**

 **"They're in Anima...dealing with those disgusting abominations at that Estate...uuuggghhh, our Brother was really sick in the mind when he created those things,"**

 **"At least people will be able to rest there a little more easier, now that the Apathy are taken care of."**

 **"Indeed... And her?"**

 **"Anxious to see her family, but knows she has to wait for the right moment."**

 **"I can only imagine how she feels. Aside from her, once they are finished in Anima, they must head to Beacon with all haste. After all, time for mortals, is a luxury they cannot afford to lose."**

* * *

 _ **Patriot-112: And voila, another chapter redone... Or rather just beefed up with a little more content. Next chapter, a much more realistic setting of Pyrrha meeting the Older Ruby...and the entrance of our favorite blind Grimm Reaper. Until then, Later!**_


	4. Chapter 3: Champions and Grimm Reapers

_**Patriot-112 : Hello my friends! And here is another redone chapter of Warning from the future! **_

_**If you have noticed some things that are still left in the chapters, that's because I deemed those salvageable and left them where they were. I hope you also enjoy the extra content I putting into these chapters, which helps increase the length of the story.**_

 _ **Now then, enough of my rambling, let's continue!**_

* * *

 _ **Chapter Three:**_

 _ **The Champion & The Grimm Reape**_r

* * *

 _ **Beacon Academy, Ozpin's Office**_

 _ **Kingdom of Vale**_

 _ **One School Semester Later**_

* * *

It had been at least a full school semester, 15 weeks to be exact, since Taiyang had learned about his youngest daughter's future self and the hell she had to endure. And true to his word, he stayed at Beacon in order to protect her, under the guise of a Combat Instructor, much to the daughters of said man's surprise. It has also been that same amount time since Ruby Rose, along with her Team, along with Team JNPR were formed after their initiation. The teamwork that both teams showed was exemplary, especially when both teams worked side by side with each other, even though there was minor bickering between Weiss and Ruby, and some...rather embarrassing moments from the Young Arc, though he made up for it for his quick tactical thinking.

After Initiation, the two teams would occasionally mingle, and talk to one another...but, there were a few minor hiccups that happened.

First, there was the incident at Forever Fall Forest, where an Ursa Major came upon on the class field trip, composing of Team RWBY, Team JNPR, and Team CRDL. The third, already establishing a reputation as being a Bully gang toward many other students, attempted to force Jaune Arc to throw a jar of tree sap at his partner, but he refused, and instead threw the jar at the Team Leader, Cardin Winchester.

The rage Cardin felt, as well as the beatdown that the Arc received from the Winchester and his gang, attracted the attention of the Ursa. While the other members of the team fled, Cardin was unfortunately caught by the bear type Grimm, and would've been eaten, if it wasn't for the white Paladin who, with a little help, managed to kill the oversized teddy bear.

He later found out why Team CRDL was trying to force Jaune to do so in the first... And that was because Jaune had used forged transcripts to get into Beacon, with the only person he ever truly told about, being Pyrrha herself, due to a argument they were having, which he won't try to go into detail explaining.

But, as the story goes, coincidentally, Team CRDL's room was located directly below them...with the window open...with Cardin listening.

So, in essence, it was a case of Blackmail. Something Ozpin was used to seeing all the time during his long time of death and reincarnation.

Then there was the incident in which Blake Belladonna, Team RWBY's Faunus in hiding, ran away in fear after the Schnee Heiress' non stop degrading of the Faunus, more specifically the White Fang had gone too far, and she accidentally revealed her secret to them.

This, understandably, caused her to run away from the school, and was missing for two days.

Thankfully..., or unfortunately, however you look at it. She was found, along with Sun Wukong of Haven Academy, busting a heist of SDC containers by Torchwick, and unsurprisingly, by the White Fang. Of course, they weren't alone, as helped arrived in the form of both Ruby Rose, the younger version, and Penny Polidenia, James' new...student.

After those incidents, the rest of the Semester went by rather well. And although he knew of Jaune's false transcripts, he did nothing about it.

The boy was clearly willing to do whatever it took to live up to his family's legacy, so why stop him?

That brought up the OTHER parts of team JNPR: namely, Pyrrha Nikos. Ozpin learned for watching other videos on the Older Ruby's scroll, that despite only knowing for a short time, the Rose Reaper, along with everyone else, looked up to her, and even began to love her as a sister. Even citing how she still had nightmares from the night of when she died in her timeline.

Speaking of said girl, he heard the elevator ding at it's arrival, and the door opened as the said redhead entered. She was clad in her signature Demetrium bronze Huntress armor, along with her signature circlet on her head, with her waist length red hair done up in a ponytail. Her respective weapons were absent, having placed them back in her locker.

"You wanted to see me Headmaster?" she asked politely, as she stood in front of his desk.

"Yes." Ozpin said, and motioned to the chair in front of the desk, asking her to sit down, which she did, "I wanted to talk with you about the Grimm attack at Forever Falls during the last Semester. I haven't brought sooner, cause I was busy with...other matters. So I apologize that I'm bringing this up now after all this time,"

Pyrrha shook her head as she gave a smile.

"Oh no, it's alright, Professor. After all the saying goes, better now than never. And yes, Jaune fought off an Ursa Major." Pyrrha said, while Ozpin took note of the slight pink on her cheeks, "He saved Cardin, the team leader of team CRDL. Even though he didn't deserve it."

Ozpin noted the clear edge in Pyrrha's voice, clearly showing that she still had a bit of a grudge against Cardin for what he did to Jaune..

"Yes, while they are bullies, and their motivations are...questionable, to say the least, no one deserves to get killed by a Grimm." he said, while Pyrrha nodded, knowing the headmaster was right.

"Yes, I understand." Pyrrha said, "After that incident, me and Jaune are now sparring in order to sharpen his skills. He has a long way to go, but he has a good heart and is determined,"

Ozpin nodded at that, while smiling.

"That is good. It is a excellent trait to help others who are struggling, even those who used...fake transcripts to get into Beacon," He said, and Pyrrha's vivid green eyes widened in worry at that, but before she could say anything Ozpin raised a hand to calm her fears, "Don't worry, I don't intend to expel him. With someone of your caliber training him I have no doubt he'll be a great Huntsman like the rest of his family."

Pyrrha blinked at that. She was worried the boy who actually treated her like a normal person instead of a celebrity (and who is also the target of her growing affections) would be expelled. But thankfully, it appears that the Headmaster won't let happen.

"Th..Thank you, Headmaster!" She said, happily.

Ozpin smiled at that, before it quickly fell as he sighed. This girl was his second choice to replace Amber, if something were to happen to the current Fall Maiden. But now with the Future Ruby interfering, that was unneeded.

But, of course, with said woman's current condition, and the fact that how her own Maiden Powers worked and how they transfer from one host to another is currently unknown, that could possibly change fast.

"Headmaster, is something wrong?" he heard Pyrrha say in concern.

The Headmaster looked at the Mistralian champion, and the girl blinked at the solemn expression on the old man's face. Said Headmaster knew this was the right moment, and it was time to take the plunge.

"Tell me, Miss Nikos. Have you ever heard of...time travel?" He asked, making the Mistralian blink in surprise.

"I...well, yes. Except in sci-fi films and comic books." Pyrrha said honestly, "I heard some scientists say it maybe probable, while others say it's impossible...from what I read at least."

After Pyrrha answered, she saw the Headmaster nod, while still keeping his current expression.

"...Why?" She said, as Ozpin sighed again.

"What if I were to tell you...that it's actually, truly, possible," he said, making Pyrrha blink as her brows raised slightly. That caught her off guard.

"I...I beg your pardon?" she said, just as the elevator door opened again.

In walked two of her teachers, Glynda Goodwitch and Taiyang Xiao Long, along with a man with graying black hair and red eyes (which looked like Yang's when she got mad or used her semblance), General James Ironwood of the Atlesian Armed Forces and another girl right around her age.

Pyrrha, feeling a sense of dread down her spine stood up from her chair as she warily looked from Ozpin to the new arrivals.

"W-What's going on?" she said cautiously, and Glynda was the one to move forward, holding her hands out to calm her down.

"It's alright Miss Nikos, there's no need to be alarmed," the professor placated, "Just hear us out,"

Pyrrha's expression didn't change as she turned back to the Headmaster who pulled out the scroll held by the Elder Ruby. When the Mistralian saw it, her eyes widened at seeing the Red Burning Rose on the device, as well the faded colors and small scratches and minor dings.

"T-That's...that's Ruby's scroll," she managed to say.

Which was impossible: Ruby had her scroll. She saw it prior to coming up to Ozpin's office.

"Please take a seat, Miss Nikos," Ozpin said, "What you are about to see, will definitely make you see Miss Rose in a whole different light."

Pyrrha was now greatly concerned and almost afraid of what it was about Ruby that could warrant her being here. But, deciding to just go with it and get the answers, she sat back down into the chair, the unease still strong in her.

The headmaster activated the holographic display, playing a vid file.

What looked like an older Ruby appeared on one of the screens. "My name is Ruby Rose. I'm twenty five years old, born in the Kingdom of Vale, and a former Huntress student from Beacon Academy. If you're watching this, and you're not me, then something must've gone wrong."

The Spartan stood wide-eyed as she watched the vid recording continue. Her expressions changing from shock, horror, and finally sadness at what she was hearing, especially the part where her partner would die, two years after her. The girl, who she only knew for 15 weeks, but was already a close friend, had endured ten years of hell... and even witnessed her death at the hands of a woman named Cinder Fall. She was also horrified at the details of a future war with the source of all Grimm, a grimm-like woman named Salem. When the message ended she was undoubtedly in tears.

"There are personal messages for everyone. Including your team" Ozpin said, making Pyrrha look at him, "...You were actually at the top of the list."

"M-Me?"

"Aside from Team RWBY, you and Mister Arc are at the top of the list." Glynda clarified, while the Mistral Tournament Champion was surprised at that. "And as we can't exactly trust Miss Rose yet to keep a secret, you were our first choice."

"Your future death hit the Elder Ruby hard," the mystery man said with a sad sigh, "She claimed it was her biggest regret that she couldn't save you in time."

Pyrrha by now, was beginning to feel more and more like a little child instead of the famous champion she trained to be, as she turned to the Scroll and saw her name at the top, close to Team RWBY's names. Hesitantly, she reached out and pressed her name on the scroll.

The vid started playing, displaying Ruby carefully holding a familiar sword, but it looked different considering it had a more golden outline, and appeared sharper.

In fact, it was the very same sword belonging to her partner and teammate.

" _H-Hello, Pyrrha... Fuck, nine years and it still isn't easy._ " The older Ruby muttered, " _People would probably call me crazy for doing this. But, unfortunately, no one else is around to judge or say anything about it, so...yeah._ "

The Spartan winced. " _Point is, this message is for you. Mainly, to say that... I'm sorry...that I couldn't get to you in time._ " she said, tears beginning to show, " _You probably heard what I said in the first vid, when I said that you died. Well... let me fill in the blanks for you._ "

Pyrrha actually gulped, not exactly looking forward to this.

" _When Jaune called us on Weiss' Scroll, begging us to save you, me and her rushed to the CCT in order to get to you. However, the Grimm kept delaying us as much as possible, until Weiss used her glyphs so I could run up the side of the tower..._ " Ruby's face fell as her hair shadowed her eyes, " _...but, I was just two seconds too late. I arrived, just in time, only to see... that fucking whore shoot an arrow through your chest, and to add insult to injury...she...she burned your body to ash, leaving only your shield, pieces of Milo, and your circlet behind...,_ "

Pyrrha actually paled at that. Her hand unconsciously grasping over her chest where her heart is.

" _When me, Jaune, and the rest of your team went on our journey to Haven, which took us six months to get there by the way, we had to stop at a village in Anima in order to help them with a Geist problem...,_ " Ruby continued, as she shifted the modified Crocea Mors in her lap, " _...in exchange for dealing with the Geist, the town's blacksmith would make modifications for Jaune's sword and shield, and a new set of armor for him...of course, he had to make the difficult decision of using your circlet as part of the modifications...you have no idea how hard it was for him to do that,_ "

Pyrrha could barely imagine how Jaune must've felt after her untimely death, and the emotional struggles he had to endure. She watched as Ruby held up the sheathed sword, before activating the shield configuration.

The champion of Sanctum Academy had to admit, the Demetrium bronze went with the white shield very nicely. Then, her eyes reached near the bottom, and her heart dropped as she saw the familiar shape of the front of her circlet emblazoned proudly.

" _Of course, considering who we were going against, Jaune needed all the upgrades he could get...and in his own words to me once, it was his way of carrying you into battle,_ " Ruby said with a sad smile, before she gave a sniff, "J _aune was...devastated when you died, Pyrrha. I can... still remember every time at night, he would go out, and away from the rest of us while we were sleeping, just so he could train, using the videos you made for him to do it._ "

Pyrrha's eyes actually widen at that. She did make a few videos for Jaune to use, in case she was called away, or too busy to train him...but, in that alternate time...

Her hands reached up to her mouth as she gasped, trying to keep the coming sob in her throat, which prompted Glynda to immediately walk over and comfort the poor girl.

" _Of course...it was made worse, due to the fact that when we ran into Cinder at Haven, he was almost killed by Cinder, if I hadn't unconsciously used my Silver Eyed powers to stop her...and then, there was the incident while we were staying at his sister's place in Argus, where he attacked Oscar, a recent friend... After receiving some depressing information we were given._ " Pyrrha heard, while still being comforted by Glynda, " _Then, after Oscar ran away, and we went searching for him...he...found a statue of you in Argus Park, honoring you for your bravery at Beacon...he told me he was filled with so much grief, longing, and self-loathing for what happened to you, even confessed to me that he believed it should've been him, not you, that died..._ ,"

Pyrrha's face gained a horrified expression at that.

" _But then...someone came along and told him otherwise...someone, who was in the same amount of grief as him, but knew you didn't regret your decision...,_ " Ruby said as she smiled softly, " _I don't think she told him who she was...but, I can bet one hundred percent, that it was your mom, Pyrrha_ ,"

Pyrrha could only close her eyes as tears leaked, and ran down her cheeks. She couldn't bear to imagine how her mother must've been through when she received the news of her death.

" _Afterwards, he got better, though he said that while he will live on for your sake, he told me that he wouldn't love another girl again_ ," she continued, making the champion perk up at that, " _Afterall, you_ were _his first kiss._ "

That last sentence made Pyrrha's face go red for a moment before she managed to get it under it control.

" _He admitted, that kiss actually made him realize the feelings he had for you, ever since you two partnered up in the Emerald Forest during Initiation, and when you unlocked his aura, forming a permanent bond between you two_." Ruby lamented, " _He regretted that even though the two of you realized you loved each other, it was only that one moment you two ever had._ "

The Mistralian could only feel her depression worsen at that, especially what she learned what happened to Jaune later on. She watched Ruby wipe her eyes of the tears that had leaked down on her face before she continued.

" _One final thing that he told me, before your ill-fated match with Penny, was that you asked him if he believed in destiny, he said that at the time, he honestly didn't have a clue_ ," the sad smile never left her face, " _But after you died, he said that he now did, and that she was a total cold hard bitch. Well, if you're seeing this, destiny's probably dying of an hemorrhage right now._ "

The mystery man and Taiyang chuckled. The current Ruby didn't even know what that word meant.

Pyrrha couldn't help but giggle at that, despite how dark it sounded.

" _Ya know, come to think of it. As long as I can remember during our time at Beacon, I saw you, aside from my own team members and Yang, as another amazing sister,_ " she said, making the redhead's eyes widen in surprise.

" _You were always kind, patient, smart, and strong. Of course, most of us didn't noticed how lonely you actually felt, until Jaune helped you by cheering you up at the dance. I won't spoil that, by the way._ " Ruby exclaimed, while giving a wink, that caused Pyrrha to blink, curious what Jaune did to make her happy.

" _Also, I just want to say that no matter what other people say about you, remember that you will always be one of my best friends Pyrrha. And also, no matter what destiny may be said, always remember that you will have Jaune, Ren, Nora, and Team RWBY with you, and who will always have your back, no matter what_ " the scythe wielder said, leaving Pyrrha surprised, as well as touched.

The Elder Ruby sighed as she rubbed her thumb on the pommel of Jaune's sword, "I have to go now. But before I do, here's some advice..."

Everyone then watched as Ruby's face turned deadpan.

"For the love of Oum girl, don't waste your time and just tell the dense idiot you love him and kiss him already...," she drawled out and that got quite the interesting reactions.

Pyrrha blushed, the two men (Qrow and Taiyang) laughed, Ozpin, Glynda and Ironwood facepalmed and the girl (Amber, Pyrrha thought Ruby called her) actually cooed in delight.

Everyone's a romantic it seems.

After the vid ended and everyone calmed down, the one question they were expecting to come out of Pyrrha's mouth, did.

"Did...did she survive?" Pyrrha said suddenly, gaining everyone's attention, "Is she...a-alive?"

Ozpin sighed as he stood up.

"Come with us, Miss Nikos" he said, and with slight hesitation, the Spartan did exactly that.

* * *

The elevator door opened, as Ozpin, Ironwood, Glynda, Amber and Taiyang stepped out, with Pyrrha in tow. The mystery man, who had introduced himself as Qrow, had to leave to scout out the coordinates Ruby left for them, as well as look for Cinder. Of course he warned her to be wary of the old coot that's down there with Ruby, which confused the Mistralian champion and ask what he meant by that, but Qrow just grumbled about 'Old Blind Veteran Huntress' and 'Stubborn old mule' before he left.

The group walked out, as Pyrrha looked around her.

"What is this place?" she asked as she looked around the rather large cavernous room.

"This is the vault that built to house the Relic of Choice, it's also serves to protect any Maidens that were gravely injured, during the time they were hunted for their power. We've modernized it over the years, but..." Ozpin guided her to the isolation pod, where the Elder Ruby laid, nigh comatose. Pyrrha gasped, placing her hands over her mouth as she looked at the state of her friend. Her skin was deathly pale, while her breathing was somewhat shallow and erratic, an OT (Oxygen Therapy) mask was secured on her face.

"Oh Oum...," Pyrrha gasped out as she continued to look at Ruby's unconscious form.

"My thoughts exactly, young lady," she heard an elderly voice say, and turned and spotted an old short woman, with weathered tanned skin, wearing a blue and grey dress with a blue cape on her shoulders with brown gloves. The most peculiar thing about her though...were her eyes, as they covered by a set of advanced goggles that glowed blue. "Of course, at first I didn't believe it when that twerp Qrow, just suddenly showed up out of nowhere and tried to get me here immediately...though, he later learned that I was not someone to be ordered around,"

Ozpin and the others all sighed knowing what the old woman meant. When Qrow came back with the said woman before them, he sported a lot of lumps, bruises, and a black eye for his trouble. Pyrrha however, blinked owlishly as she looked at the woman.

"Who...who are you?" she said, and the elder's mechanical 'goggles' actually blinked as she smiled at Pyrrha.

"My name is Maria Calavera...," she introduced herself, "...I'm, apparently, Ruby Rose's mentor regarding her silver eyes. And you are Pyrrha Nikos, am I correct?"

Pyrrha nodded before she turned back to the bed.

"Has...has she reacted to you, or anyone ever since she was here?" she asked, and Maria sighed sadly.

"Her father, and surprisingly me, when we talked to her," she answered, while shaking her head, "But other than that, no...I'm beginning to believe that she losing the will to fight. And if we don't do something soon..."

Maria left it at that, as Pyrrha continued to look at the older version of her friend, before she began to walk toward the bed, her heart wrenching at the condition the tough young woman.

A once happy and vibrant fifteen year old girl...reduced to this. As soon as she reached the side of the bed, she knelt down as she slowly and carefully took Ruby's hand into hers, while placing the other on her fellow redhead's hair.

Ruby seemed to respond, pressing her head further into her hand. Pyrrha sniffed a bit as she began to speak to her.

"Ruby..." Pyrrha began to speak, "It's me...Pyrrha. I don't know if you can hear me, but please know... that I forgive you. I don't have the right to, because there was really nothing to forgive."

She began caressing Ruby's hair, which the said Reaper was now nuzzling into.

"Thank you for doing this. And I'll definitely be a sister you can be proud of." she finished and watched as Ruby slowly made a small smile, prompting Pyrrha to follow suit. She then stood over her and placed a sisterly kiss on her forehead. After she finished and pulled away, her eyes then widened, as Ruby's familiar silver opened, though just enough for her to see.

"...If...this is a dream...don't wake me..." Ruby gasped out, her hand squeezing Pyrrha's, which the Champion returned, "...If...I'm awake...please...don't make me go back to sleep,"

Though she was shocked that he woke up, Pyrrha proceeded to comfort Ruby.

"Shhh, it's okay...it's okay now, Ruby," she whispered gently, while the others looked on, all of them genuinely surprised that Pyrrha managed to wake her up.

Ruby, smile still on her face, fought to keep her eyes open, as tears leaked from her eyes.

"Thank you, Pyrrha...," she said, "...I'm glad...to have such a person like you as a friend...and as a sister."

Pyrrha only returned the smile in response, as she watched Ruby lose the fight to stay awake and pass out.

"You're welcome...," she said, before giving a final stroke of Ruby's now long hair, before standing up, wiping the tears from her eyes. As she walked out of the unit, something caught her eye, making her turn to the table and spotting all the Elder Ruby's belongings.

All of the fragments of her teammates' destroyed personal weapons made Pyrrha wince. Ruby was torturing herself keeping those around.

"I...trust you can keep this to yourself?" Ozpin said, which Pyrrha responded by giving him the 'look'.

"Headmaster, beyond the fact that no one would BELIEVE me, I could be admitted to an asylum if I talked about this." She said firmly, and Ozpin nodded in agreement at that.

It had happened for less, and that was saying a lot.

"Of course," he said, as he watched Pyrrha walk over to the table, looking at everything, before laying her eyes on the improved Crescent Rose, and the modified Crocea Mors beside it. She carefully reached for the sword and picked it.

She then drew the sword out of it's scabbard, and was amazed at the craftsmanship that was done to the guard, and how sharpened the blade looked compared to what she saw her partner was currently using. She then looked at the sheath, and used her polarity to hold it up and deployed it to it's shield configuration.

She winced as she saw the familiar design of her circlet again at the bottom.

Pyrrha did not miss the symbolism.

"She definitely does get better as a huntress," she said, smiling sadly before placing the blade back in it's scabbard, set the shield back to scabbard mode, and placed it back down on the table. "And it took ten years of misery for her to reach it,"

She then felt a hand on her shoulder, as Ozpin gave her a solemn smile.

"Hopefully, with yours and the others help, she will heal from the wounds she suffered," he said, and he meant both physically and mentally. Pyrrha nodded at that, and Ozpin told her she was free to go back to her team and was allowed to come back and visit Ruby at any time, which said Champion planned on doing. She nodded and headed for the elevator before the Headmaster spoke.

"Oh, and before I forget. You may not tell the others what you saw here, until it's the right time to tell them, but you WILL eventually tell Mr. Arc how you feel," Ozpin said, and that caused Pyrrha's face to turn bright red as her hair, before she hurriedly left the vault.

The old man looked to everyone else as they either sighed or face-palmed.

Amber looked to Ozpin. "Was that _really_ necessary?"

Said professor gave a slight smirk, "Yes. I do enjoy romantic relationships...in adventure stories that is. Nothing is as good a motivator as love, wouldn't you agree?"

He lived that life before, when he was much younger, reckless, and idealistic. But constant death, and losing the woman he loved to bitterness and madness...had taken it's toll. However, he'd be damned if another couple suffered the same fate.

* * *

Pyrrha was hiding in a corner as she couldn't get what Ozpin said out of her head.

He _HAD_ to pull that out.

Pyrrha wasn't even sure if she could _tell_ Jaune; until now, she'd never been in serious a relationship, before!

Or had friends.

She didn't know if she had it in her to even DO what Elder Ruby said her counterpart did. Right now she felt like hiding in a hole for a good while until she get her act back together again. However, it appears that Elder Ruby was right, yet again, that Destiny was a total cold hard bitch.

Proven true as Jaune Arc peered into her hiding place. Said Champion's eyes widened, cursing mentally that she had been found so fast.

"Hey Pyrrha? Are you ok?" he said in concern.

The redhead blushed as she shook her head vigorously, making the young blonde knight even more worried for his partner, mentor, and friend.

"You wanna talk about it? Maybe I can help," the blonde Arc said, giving a comforting smile.

"N-No. No, I can't." Pyrrha said, and Jaune blinked and looked to question her on what was going with her.

"Pyrrha, what's wrong?" he asked and decided to sit next to her, making the young redhead's heart beat just a little faster than the normal rate.

She knew she had to think of something, and quick.

"...A...A friend of the family, who is like a sister to me is in the hospital," she half lied, not wanting to tell the whole truth.

Jaune's eyes widen at that.

"Is she alright?" Jaune asked worriedly, while Pyrrha shook her head.

"She's...bedridden, and barely responsive. She had an encounter with a Grimm and got hurt... really badly," she said.

Jaune placed his hand on the girl's shoulder, making her eyes widen slightly.

"You've seen her already?" Jaune asked, and it took Pyrrha a moment before she nodded.

"Y-yes," she said, "She was able to respond to me when I touched her. The doctor says it's a touch and go,"

Jaune sighed as he sat down next to Pyrrha, "Well, what can I do to help?" he asked making the Spartan turn to him, blinking, "I may not be a doctor, but, maybe I can help in another way. So, what can I do?"

Pyrrha was surprised by the caring tone in Jaune's voice, and Ruby's words were repeating in her head. Though, of course, she'll wait till the right time, and not rush into it. She smiled slightly as she closed her eyes.

"Just stay here with me for a little bit," she said, and the knight nodded, smiling as the two sat in their corner.

* * *

With Team RWBY, they were making their way back to their dorm, after a day of hard school work. Suddenly, the young team leader stopped as she blinked in confusion.

"Hey Rubes," said Yang, concern on her face as he saw her stop, as she placed a hand on her shoulder. "You okay?"

Ruby nodded at her sister's concern, "Yeah...though for some reason, I don't know why, I feel as if I accomplished something...something very important," she said, slightly unsure, but she felt in her gut that this was actually a good unsure, not a bad one.

The other members of Team RWBY blinked at that, just before the Ice Queen spoke up.

"How can you accomplish anything important?" she said, rich girl snootiness coming into play, "The only thing you can accomplish is by being a complete dolt,"

Ruby took offense to that.

"At least I know how to build my weapon, rich girl!," she shot back, causing the Schnee heiress to adopt an offended look, while Yang snickered at her little sister's comeback, while Blake just gave a slight smirk.

The rest of the day went on, as two members of Team RWBY went on to argue through the rest of the day.

* * *

 _ **Patriot-112 : And WUNDERBAR! Another rough chapter that I chipped into perfection. And...Maria has made her first appearance! Though it was short, I have no doubt, that in your minds, it's good to see her in here, and being shown a description of her scrappy behavior that we all know and love! LOL XD!**_

 _ **Please leave a Review, Fave, or follow! See ya next time!**_


	5. Chapter 4: Delirium

_**Patriot-112: Nothing much to say, except let's continue on with the show.**_

* * *

 _ **Chapter Three:**_

 _ **Delirium**_

* * *

 _ **Elder Ruby's mind**_

* * *

She remembered this courtyard well. Back before it became the crumbling ruins it was now. All the plant life that once grew and thrived around the courtyard, now dead, the silvery limestone, crumbled and turned to black, a low mist floating through as phantoms of the past walked by her as if she wasn't there. All the friends she's made here, all the Student Teams, the teachers, familiar faces, every single one of them...all gone.

Now, there was nothing left but ash.

Ruby could still remember that day. That day, where everything started, the Beginning of the End. Where she saw two of her closest friends die. One due to manipulation, the other out of blind duty, guilt, and of atonement for said tragedy.

And now... this place only served to torture her, to remind her of the failure that she now saw herself. And one of those sessions was happening right now.

"You killed us!" Ruby swung the scythe through a phantom of Ren, firing the modified weapon in a scream-filled rage.

Then she saw a phantom of Pyrrha, Cinder's arrow through her chest.

"Why did you let me die, Ruby?" the phantom of the Spartan girl said as tears leaked from her eyes.

"SHUT UP! YOU'RE NOT PYRRHA!" Ruby screamed before using Jaune's Crocea Mors to slice the Phantom's head off.

"You failed her, just as you failed all of us!" said another Phantom, this time of Jaune. Half of his face burnt off, and one of Cinder's glass swords stuck through him.

"You're not them! YOU'RE NOT THEM!" she shouted again swinging Crescent Rose, cleaving the Jaune phantom in two.

"Why?" Ruby froze. She turned around to see Weiss, covered in third-degree burns. "Why did go off on your own to stop Salem?"

"No...NO! YOU'RE NOT WEISS!" the Grimm Reaper shouted.

"THEN WHO AM I, RUBY?!" the phantom shouted back.

"I KNOW YOU'RE NOT HER!" Ruby screamed again as she fired a round point blank into the phantom's head sending it flying back before it dissipated.

"Why did you leave me behind?" Ruby snapped around and saw her sister Yang, her robotic left arm blackened and a duo of stab wounds in her chest, the phantom had tears in her eyes. "Why didn't you wait for me? WHY DID YOU DESERT US!?"

"SHUT UP! YOU AREN'T REAL!"

"You led us to our deaths." Ruby decapitated the armless and mostly headless Blake, before she ran.

Very, VERY far away.

But, as Ruby will discover, running away ain't going to solve anything inside your own head. You either had to face the problem, or let it swallow you up. Unfortunately, she was too scared to do the former, and the guilt she was suffering made her an easy target for the latter.

She then ran into the CCT, climbing up the ruined tower frantically trying to get away, but when she reached the top, she saw that moment again. That one moment where Cinder shot an arrow through Pyrrha's heart, Cinder smiling cruelly as she sauntered up and burned her to ash.

Ruby's eyes widen in horror and grief, as she watched the glowing ashes fly away.

' _No...NOOO!_ '

Then the phantom of Cinder turned to her. Smug smirk plastered on her face.

"Late again, little red," the phantom mocked, which set the Red Hooded Silver Maiden off.

"SHUT UP YOU BITCH!" Ruby shouted, silver eyes glowing with anger, "Even if if you aren't real I already stopped you from getting the Fall Maiden powers! You won't be able to kill her this time!"

The bitch only smirked.

"Does it matter?" she asked rhetorically, "You're a failure. You let them die. You led them to their fates."

In a blur of red, Ruby impaled Crescent Rose into the phantom's chest.

"Go fuck yourself!" the Rose Reaper screamed as Cinder herself turned to blackened ashes, just as she did when the God of Darkness unleashed his wall of unholy flame in the other timeline.

Then, she felt something grasp her shoulders, making her freeze and her eyes wide with cold fright. The hands that held her, then began to caress her face, making her skin crawl. Then came the giggle, a giggle she never wanted to hear ever again, but still followed her no matter where she went.

"My poor, foolish, little red hooded, silver eyed maiden," the female voice said, "So alone in the world, the last of every living person on Remnant. What would your dear mother think of you?"

Ruby's eyes widened in horror.

"NO!" she shouted desperately, "DON'T YOU MENTION HER!"

"Why not?" Salem intoned, "No matter what you do...Everyone you care about, everyone you love..."

Ruby began breathing harder and harder as she hyperventilated.

"They. Will. Still. DIE!"

Ruby's eyes began glowing with both the Silver Eyes and her own version of the Maiden Powers as she gave one defiant scream at the Phantom.

"FUCK YOU! YOU FUCKING IMMORTAL BITCH!" With that she swung Crescent Rose with all her might and slashed at the Phantom of the Grimm bitch herself, before a white light enveloped her.

* * *

In the real world, Elder Ruby's eyes snapped open, just as the medical staff came in to check on her.

"Shit! She's awake! Call Professor Ozpi-" the poor doctor didn't get to finish as he felt the front of his shirt get grabbed before he was thrown across the room. Soon the other medical staff came in to restrain her, just as she ripped her OT mask off.

However, they were not facing an ordinary patient as Ruby used her Semblance to deliver fast pace punches and kicks, that sent the medical in different directions. A technique she liked to call...Bullet beating.

This happens when Ruby uses her semblance to go to Mach 4.7, using kinetic energy to deliver blows that would shatter a large oak tree.

In short, the doctors were either knocked out or crippled, depending on the amount of force used, in a matter of milliseconds due to the speed of the blows.

The Atlas soldiers heard what was happening and came in and attempted to restrain the female Huntress, only for themselves to be sent flying via super fast kicks. She then turned and saw her weapons and belongings on the table. Despite being sluggish, she managed to make her way over, and grabbed everything before placing them in her backpack, and clipping her baby, and the weapon of her fellow team leader and friend, to their respective places on her belt.

After confirming she had everything she bolted to the elevator, just as one of the Guards, who was still conscious managed to hit a button on his vambrace before blacking out.

* * *

In Ozpin's office, Glynda was speaking with said Headmaster about the preparations for the upcoming Vytal Festival, and the arrival of the first of the exchange students, and also being properly prepared for the Grimm invasion. Maria was there with him as well, as they talked about how to reveal to the younger Ruby about her heritage and the truth of her future counterpart comatosed in the basement.

However, their thoughts were interrupted, when an alarm on Ozpin's desk started shrilling loudly.

"What!?" Glynda said in shock as she, Maria, and the reincarnating wizard looked on as a map appeared of Beacon, and showed where the alarm came from. And their hearts sank.

The vault. Which possibly meant that the elder Ruby was awake and on the loose.

Ozpin only had one thing to say for what he was seeing: "Oh, fuckery."

"That, Professor Ozpin, is an understatement." Glynda drawled, as she looked at the screen, as the camera feed showed what happened, and it confirmed their fears, as the Older Ruby knocked out the Medical Staff and the guards, gathered her belongings and made a haphazard beeline to the elevator, "She's broken loose and has her weapons back!

"Then we need to get to her before she runs into anyone." Ozpin said, "She could possibly injure them severely... or worse. And let's not forget what will happen if anyone else, like her younger self, sees her,"

Glynda nodded as she left the office, not needing to know more. After she left, Ozpin sighed as he grabbed his personal Scroll, and called Taiyang's contact number.

"It's highly possible she'll run into them either way, Ozpin," Maria said, and the immortal wizard looked at the Grimm Reaper as her mechanical eyes narrowed slightly, "And like it or not, things are no longer going to go your way,"

Ozpin thought on that for a minute before releasing a regretful sigh.

"You are not wrong, Miss Calavera," he said with a solemn tone, "You are not wrong...,"

* * *

Team CRDL were a powerhouse team, though were also a bunch of bullies while they were at it. Especially when it came to Faunus, like the rabbit eared Velvet Scarlatina.

Though they eased up on their harassment of the other students, after the Forever Fall incident, that didn't mean they had stopped completely.

But, unfortunately for them, they were about to run into their worst nightmare as a woman entered their view. With the red cloak, they mistook her for Ruby for a second.

While not wrong, they were going to regret being the first people she saw.

"Hey, isn't that the red hooded Rose girl?" said Russel Thrush as they saw Elder Ruby, who was stumbling slightly.

"You sure? She looks a little taller and older than her, not to mention she looks way hotter," said Dove Bronzewing, before the subject of their conversation turned toward them, before giving a growl.

The four could only watch as the woman extended the scythe rifle, eyes glowing with silver flames. This action made the boys go on edge, their eyes widening as they saw the woman bring out the staff weapon.

"Uh, Cardin?" said Sky Lark nervously, as he saw the woman begin to move toward them, before breaking into a mad dash towards them.

The Winchester heir had only one thing to say.

"RUN!"

It was perhaps the wisest choice the Winchester would ever make. Not that it would HELP.

Just because it's a good idea doesn't mean it'll WORK. And the Red Hooded Reaper proved that.

Using her semblance, Ruby sped after the bullies in a blur, catching Dove first as she planted her HEELED booted feet into his back, causing him to scream in agony, as he went flying. The other school bullies saw their buddy go down, but then they felt a clench in their stomachs as she then turned toward them next. Her silver eyes aflame, but looking dead at the same time.

"OH SHIT!" shouted Russel.

"Get to the cafeteria!" shouted Cardin as the three boys left their comrade behind.

The three rushed down the hall, screaming like little girls, while the Elder Ruby was hot on their tail.

* * *

At the aforementioned food hall, which was mostly deserted except for eight students, plus two boys who were watching. A food fight that was about to break out, but was suddenly halted before it began, as the two teams involved heard the girlish screams.

"What was that?" Yang said with a raised eyebrow before the doors slammed open, admitting the team of bullies, who immediately slammed the door shut again, causing the boys in front of them to jump back slightly.

"Whoa! Hey, what the...!?" shouted Sun Wukong, a native of Vacuo, but a student of Haven, as he and his buddy/partner, the blue haired Neptune Vasilias, both looked at the sudden and unexpected arrival of the team. He was also an...acquaintance of Blake's after he helped her out discovering the truth of the White Fang committing the Dust Robberies.

"GET SOMETHING TO BAR THE DOOR! SHE'S COMING!" Cardin shouted as Russel and Sky scurried around to try to get one of the tables and use it as a makeshift barricade.

"What's up with them?" Weiss said.

"Probably ticked off somebody they shouldn't have," Blake said, having no sympathy for the bullies, before blinking as she noticed a member of CRDL missing. "Wait, where's Dove?"

"CRAZY LADY GOT HIM! BLOCK THE DOOR!" Cardin shouted as he and the rest of Team CRDL shoved tables and chairs up against the door.

Team RWBY and JNPR both blinked at that.

"Crazy Lady?" Yang said, "What are you talking about?"

"She just came out of nowhere!" Russel shouted, fear coloring his tone, before he pointed to Ruby, "And she looked exactly like her! Red cape, scythe, and all!"

The Little Rose only blinked at that.

"Wait...looks exactly like me?" she said, more to herself than the bullies.

"Look you can help us bar the door or run! Otherwise she's gonna pick us off one by-" Sky began to say, but before he could finish, a fist punched through the door before grabbing by the front of his uniform jacket, "-ONE!"

The doors then exploded open, sending the L of Team CRDL flying across the room before it hit the wall on the other side. Thankfully Sky was saved from death or permanent injury, thank to his aura, but...

"OW!"

...He still felt that.

"WHOA! CRAP!" Jaune as he the other students took cover from the flying debris. When the explosion ended everyone looked as they watched the person who was trying to beat the living crap out of the bullies walk in, scythe rifle in hand, longsword visible on her waist, and looking absolutely PISSED.

Ruby's first and only words were easily understandable, as her eyes widened in shock, "...Mom?"

"OH OUM! SHE FOUND US!" Cardin screamed, as he tried to crawl away, with Russel doing the same. The sight of the two crawling on their hands and knees would make anyone almost pity the two bullies...key word almost.

The woman began to walk ominously toward the two, who stopped their feeble attempt to get away they saw her directly over her, and causing them to slowly, and fearfully turn around and look up. The woman's face was frightening to say the least, the dilated eyes contrasting with the enraged expression made the two want to release the breakfast they had to evacuate early.

Ruby could only in stunned as she saw the person, whom she believed to be her mother, then begin to raise a near identical copy of her sweetheart with one, with the intent to decapitate the two boys in one strike.

Greatly alarmed, Ruby knew she had to do something, and fast!

"MOM! DON'T!" she screamed, which caught the woman's attention as she stopped herself mid swing and turn to look at her, causing her eyes to widen. Everything was quiet as everyone looked at the woman as she began to shake, causing the Crescent Rose in her hands to rattle.

"Uhh, what's going on?" asked Weiss, as she turned to her partner, "And did you just call her Mo-,"

The SDC Heiress' words were cut as the woman suddenly let loose a blood curdling scream, before launching herself at them.

"Whoa!" Blake shouted as they all jumped out of the way, as the woman swung her scythe, barely missing them.

The woman's eyes darted left and right wildly, searching for her targets. Meanwhile with Team JNPR, who had just began to get after the door flew off it's hinges, Pyrrha's eyes were wide in alarm and worry.

The Elder Ruby was awake. And from what she was now seeing, is going hysterically insane, as she was trying to kill her own younger teammates, including her younger self.

The scythe made contact with a tray Yang used as a shield, in order to protect Ruby, but the force of the blow sent her flying away.

"Whoa! Mom, stop! Why are you trying to kill us?!" Ruby shouted, but the woman didn't say anything, except just continuing to scream as if in agony. "Mom! Please, stop!"

"We got to help them!" Pyrrha said, as she got up.

"Pyrrha wait!" Jaune shouted to his partner as she headed toward the melee.

The younger Ruby grabbed onto the elder's waist, as she pleadingly looked at her.

"Mom, stop! Please!" She begged as tears fell from her eyes, "It's us! Yang and Ruby!"

The older woman twisted and turned till she threw Ruby off, and onto a table, knocking her out, and was preparing to stick the blade of the scythe into Ruby's stomach... only for a loaf of french bread to hit her square in the face, and made her whirl about toward the one who did the deed.

There stood Pyrrha, as she looked at the Future Ruby, with a determined look on her face.

"Please stop this!" Pyrrha shouted "Don't make us hurt you!"

The rest of Team JNPR joined up with her as they looked at the woman, who was looking more and more like a cornered animal.

Pyrrha, after signaling for everyone to stay back, then began to walk toward the panicked, and clearly still exhausted future version of Ruby Rose, as her grip on her scythe tightened while still growling.

"Easy...it's okay," the Champion said gently, as she continued to approach, "You know me... I won't hurt you. Just calm down, okay?"

Jaune looked at Pyrrha and blinked in confusion at what she said, as the Mistralian continued to approach the woman, as her growls began to soften slightly.

"That's it. It's okay, just let me come to you," she placated, and was just a foot away from her, before she heard the grunting of the Present Ruby as she sat and shook the cobwebs out of her head.

"Ow, my aching head," she groaned, and that was enough to startle the elder Ruby as she snapped toward her younger self once more.

"RUBY!" Pyrrha screamed in frantic fear for both versions of the girl, and could only watch as the elder Ruby jumped upwards, using the 50 caliber rounds of her Crescent Rose to boost her way up before vectoring towards the younger Ruby, again, fully intent on decapitating her.

A glyph stopped her long enough for Weiss to push Ruby out of the way, and when it was the gone, the older woman finished her drop and sliced the table in half.

"Ruby! Are you alright!?" Weiss asked, but Ruby didn't answer her as she looked at the woman, whom she still believed was her mother...even though the truth was that her mother died.

The older Ruby attempted to go after them again, but was then stopped, when Jaune and Ren proceeded to jump on her.

"Hey! Calm down!" Jaune shouted, "Who are you!?"

Elder Ruby didn't say anything as she gave a hard elbow strike to Jaune's gut, and stomped on Ren's foot, causing them to let go, and proceeding to punch Ren away, and kick Jaune into a pillar, thankfully Jaune's aura was very dense as he slammed against it.

"Ow!" was the resounding yelp after he slammed into the structure and fell to the floor.

The older Rose began swinging the weapon in wide arcs, snarling and screaming in rage and confusion. Yang nearly lost her head twice, Nora barely dodged a bullet to the head, and Blake''s uniform was torn from the barbed tip of the staff from her collar to her navel, though thankfully it was just the jacket portion.

She then spotted the younger Ruby, and tried once again to go after her. This time, she drew Crocea Mors from it's scabbard, something Pyrrha saw and immediately went into action as she used her semblance to snatch it away from her, and caught it by the handle as she brought it to her.

The elder Ruby looked back and snarled... before suddenly stopping and clutching at her chest. The scythe fell out of her hands, landing on the ground with a loud metallic clunk and she fell to the ground. Her bloodshot eyes wide in pain as she began to cough violently

Pyrrha's eyes widened as she remembered this, from watching the message.

' _Oh no. We don't have her medicinal dust!_ ' she thought worriedly as she began to make her way toward the older woman, only to see Yang preparing a punch to knock her out.

"Yang, DON'T! STOP!" she yelled but it was too late as Yang gave the Elder Ruby a good punch to the face, sending her back, and knocking her unconscious again. "NO!"

Pyrrha immediately ran over and began checking her over, becoming greatly concerned as she started coughing up blood.

The rest of Team JNPR along with Team RWBY immediately rush over, as they listened to Pyrrha trying to comfort the insane woman who just tried to kill them.

"Pyrrha, are you crazy?!" Yang said, an incredulous look on her face. "She just tried to kill us!"

"She's gone through hell, and the only reason she attacked us is because her mind's not in a right state, Yang!" Pyrrha shouted, shocking everyone, "She probably thinks she's going through a nightmare right now!"

Everyone was silent at that, until the Younger Ruby spoke up.

".. how would you know that?"

Pyrrha didn't say anything as she continued to try to help the Elder Ruby, that is until Goodwitch, Amber, and Taiyang arrived, which meant the Spartan girl didn't have to say anything. The other teams watched as Glynda immediately made her way over to the prone form of the woman, and with Pyrrha's help gave the woman a syringe which made her stiffen up before she calmed down, the silver glow coming afterward shocking everyone not in the know.

"W...what was that, just now?," Weiss said in shock.

Glynda groaned in annoyance, as she turned to the older Xiao Long, and the current Fall Maiden.

"Amber, Taiyang, please take her back," she said, "The last thing we need is more people finding out about her."

The two nodded as they went over and knelt next to the Elder Ruby and Pyrrha, the latter of whom was hesitant to leave her alone. Amber placed a hand on the Champion's shoulder, which made the girl look at her.

"It's alright, Pyrrha," the Maiden said while giving a reassuring smile, "We're just taking her back to bed, that's all," she said, and Pyrrha, though reluctant, allowed them to do so.

Glynda sighed as she looked at the pair of teams, along with Sun and Neptune, all of them confused on what just happened right now. She then coughed to get their attention.

"You are all coming with me to the Headmaster's office." She informed them, her tone holding a finality which brokered no argument, "As much as we didn't want this to happen so soon... you all need to be fully informed of what happened just. Please, come with me,"

The group of students, sans Pyrrha, all had looks of confusion, as they proceeded to follow her, all the while, Ruby watched as her father helped Amber lift the woman who looked so much like her mother up into a bridal carry, all the while her father giving a sad sigh as she looked at his daughter and giving her a look that she knew all too well.

' _I'll explain later_ ,'

Then he and Amber went off into another direction. While she and her friends follow the deputy headmistress who refused to look them in the eye.

' _What's going on around here?_ '

* * *

Ozpin's head was in his hands, as he groaned at what he saw from the camera's view.

The older man was now mentally preparing himself to deal with Teams RWBY and JNPR, who had been assaulted by a delirious elder Ruby. Who had knocked out the medical staff, injured her guards, and after escaping from the vault, attacked Team CRDL, sending the two of the team of bullies to the Medical Ward, and possibly mentally scarring the other two.

And now, the cat is out of the bag. Quite literally in fact.

"Well, that could've gone better," Maria said, prompting the reincarnating former hero to groan tiredly.

"Miss Calavera, would you please try to not make it look worse than it already is?" he actually pleaded, but the now old Grimm Reaper just gave a shrug.

"Hey, just stating the obvious," she countered.

The elevator door opened as Team RWBY, along with Sun and Neptune, was the first to be admitted in. And the headmaster of Beacon could see by the rips in the school uniforms that the Elder Ruby was not holding back.

"I see you have encountered Beacon's most important secret that we had kept for the last seven months." he said, and motioned to the condition of their attire, "And that she tried to kill you."

"Understatement of the century," Neptune muttered, only to receive a riding crop slap, to the head, from Glynda causing him to yelp.

"Headmaster, with all due respect... but what, or rather who, the HELL was that?" Yang said, being the next to speak, "Was...was that Summer Rose? Was that our mother?"

Ozpin could not blame Yang for her confusion.

The older Ruby looked like a perfect clone of Summer Rose. Before he saw that message months ago, he actually thought it WAS Summer for a moment.

Ozpin sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose to stave off the headache he was feeling. Then Team JNPR came in, and now he wouldn't have to tell everyone the same story over and over.

"I think, because I no longer have a choice... that this will answer your questions," he said, as he placed Elder Ruby's scroll on the hologram projector of his desk, which caught the attention of the others, especially the Younger Ruby. He then activated the holoscreen and pressed the vid file, and thus, for the THIRD time, he had to listen to the heartbreaking story of the future.

The moment that the same woman who attacked them introduced herself and explained her full story, the reactions were obvious.

Ruby fainted out of shock. Yang was on the verge of hunting down and killing Adam Taurus, and planning to give her birth mother a knuckle sandwich. Weiss was tending to the fainted girl, wondering about her fate. Blake was ashamed of herself.

With Team JNPR, Jaune looked on the verge of puking, although Pyrrha, thankfully, provided him with a vomit bag while she winced, having to hear that recording again. Nora was silent, smile actually missing from her face for once. That never happened often, so that's means it must be bad. Ren, meanwhile, was just staring at the screen.

Both Sun and Neptune, though still confused as hell, were completely thunderstruck by what they just heard.

"So our future, is going to be us killed one by one, until it's only Ruby the only one left alive in a living hell?," Yang said through gritted teeth as she clenched her hands into fists while looking at her sister worriedly who is currently on the floor, with Weiss trying to wake her up.

"In a manner of speaking, yes," Ozpin said, before a shadow fell over the blonde girl's eyes.

"I was planning to inform you all separately." Ozpin continued to explain, "But apparently, Ms Rose's elder self, on the other hand, seemed to have other ideas."

The point remains that Ozpin's schedule has been greatly advanced against his will...again.

"You mean almost KILLING us!?" Weiss said, as the younger began to come to, "If that Grimm Strangler thing hadn't happened we would all be dead, much as the Older Ruby explained how bad that parasite is,"

"Be thankful it's not contagious," said Pyrrha suddenly as she finished helping Jaune recover from his puke fest, while Glynda disposed of the vomit by levitating and destroying it via fire dust, "As you heard from the vid file, it was caused when a new type of Deathstalker got her with it's stinger while her aura was down."

"That's not the point!" Weiss screamed "She tried to kill us!"

"Ms. Schnee, the young woman is suffering years of loss and possible dementia." Ozpin said with a rare narrowed gaze that caused the Schnee to flinch, "She probably believed you were little more then the fragments of her incredibly broken mind, and lashed out. All of you would've done the same thing."

Sad part is, Ozpin was right.

"Wait a minute. Pyrrha, back in the cafeteria you actually knew what was going on?" Jaune managed to say while Pyrrha looked away, a bit ashamed.

"Professor Ozpin told me just when last Semester ended," She said, "I was horrified at what would possibly happen to the Ruby we know now, and what DID happen to the older Ruby,"

Everyone looked at Pyrrha, with Jaune looking more than a little hurt that she kept this from him. Ruby, who had now just woken up from her faint spell, looked at Pyrrha, finally understanding why the Mistralian was being more than little clingy to her, but in a good way. However, thankfully, Ozpin stepped in.

"She was actually at the top of the list." explained the headmaster, "Other than Team RWBY, but I decided to wait until you had settled in and bonded more, before informing you. I apparently didn't have a choice in the timing, however."

That was an understatement.

The others nodded, while Jaune, despite being hurt, gave Pyrrha's shoulder a gentle squeeze as a sign of forgiveness. Which Pyrrha responded by grabbing it and squeezing in return.

"That being said, most of the other files on her scroll are password-locked." Ozpin said as he brought up the file in question which showed the infamous Password box, "The only hint she gave us was that it was an embarrassing nickname for Ruby that she got on her first day at Beacon."

Jaune immediately perked up at that, "Let me try," he said and walked toward the scroll and immediately put in the password. Ruby curious on what the password is, and curious on how could Jaune possibly know it, watched him his hand as he typed the letters and when she spelled it out...she groaned out in frustration.

"You've got to be kidding me," she said, and it was not a question.

'Crater Face'.

WHY did life have to mock her for WEISS' mistake? Because, seriously, that incident was not Ruby's fault. It was Weiss and Yang's fault. Mostly Weiss.

The file began to open, but then something happened they DID NOT expect.

" _FINALLY!_ "

The group of teens and the professors jumped back in shock at what happened. In front of them appeared to be a hologram of a AK-130 combat robot, except it was colored green and transparent, and it's face appearing human. They watched as the image began to stretch itself out.

" _Geez, about time you got me out of there Ruby!_ " it said in a female voice, " _I've been stuck in that file for about seven... whole...months?_ "

It suddenly stopped talking before it looked at the gathered group of people. Then, all of a sudden it immediately grew seven feet tall, turning a burning angry red, which scared the heck out of everybody.

" _WHERE THE HELL IS SHE?!_ " it screamed, " _AND WHY ARE YOU PEOPLE STILL ALIVE?! She saw you all DIE!_ "

"Uh...time travel?" Jaune said, before the said hologram blinked, before it reverted back to it's smaller size.

" _Oh, so Dia's little hourglass really worked, huh?_ " the hologram said. " _But that doesn't explain of where the hell Ruby is,_ "

Pyrrha raised a hand, which caused the hologram robot to look at her.

" _Yeeessss?_ " she said, with a slight angry hiss which made everyone uncomfortable.

"Uh...who are you, exactly?" Pyrrha asked.

The AK contemplated on whether or not to answer, before giving a sigh, " _Well, since you asked so nicely Spartan girl, I'll tell you. My name is Leaf, personally designed and built Combat Artificial Intelligence of Ruby Rose. Been put on standby mode in that file for the past seven months...and it was BORING!,_ "

The others were astonished by that.

"I...I made you?" Younger Ruby said.

" _Well, not YOU_." Leaf said as it's a matter of fact, " _She's a little more older, taller... And a bit bigger, if you get what I mean._ "

The younger Ruby scowled at the AI.

Ruby was always uncomfortable with her bust size, Yang's own chest not making matters any easier. So, according to her translation, Leaf had just outright mocked her.

Ruby's response?

Basically a scream that translated as ' _I'LL KILL YOU!_ '.

Ruby tried to run at the A.I. but was being held back by her team, barely, as she reached out for the little glowing green bitch.

"LET ME AT HER! LET ME AT HER!" she shouted, while Leaf formed an anime-type face and gave her the eyelid pull while sticking her tongue out.

"Ladies, while this is mildly entertaining," Ozpin said, while his eye twitched a bit, "we have other things to worry about. Like the elder Ms. Rose's condition?"

" _Right, that little parasite shit._ " Leaf said with a sigh, before she gave her own smirk, " _Well, assholes, I got something that will do the job: a formula for the cure! Problem is, we couldn't make it. World goin' to shit does that. Plus my Ruby being all...never mind that part,_ "

The younger Ruby blinked when she saw the dejected look on Leaf's face.

" _Anyways, hold on and let me find me it!_ " she then disappeared, but the students could still hear her as the sounds of crashes, and curses were still being heard for the next half a minute.

" _AH HA! Found it!_ " Leaf said as she appeared again, this time what looked like a manila folder, "I _f any of you morons has the expertise in Dust mixing, please put your scroll next to me and I'll download the file!_ "

Everyone looked the little hologram with frowns, or in Ruby's case, a glare, on their faces.

"You're a total bitch, you know that?" Yang deadpanned.

" _I'm not just ANYONE'S bitch_." Leaf clarified, " _I'm RUBY'S bitch._ "

Weiss simply put her scroll down, trying to ignore the crude AI.

"I have access to almost unlimited dust reserves." the heiress stated, "I can get the specific dust in order for the mixture to be made."

Leaf then looked at Weiss, blinked, and then snapped her fingers in realization

" _Oh, so YOU'RE the girl Ruby-_ " she began to say, but then the younger Rose finally broke free, and looked at the A.I. with a expression that said 'Talk and you're dead' and Leaf decided to shut up before the girl broke the scroll.

Which she would to keep her secret.

"Anyway..." Ozpin said before the situation got more out of hand, "As a result of this...incident, I have no choice but to... induct you,"

Everyone blinked at that.

"Induct us?" Yang said.

" _Meaning you're being drafted, blondie_ ," Leaf rudely remarked, which caused Yang to glare at the hologram.

"Drafted into what?" Ren asked next.

"S _ee, what Ruby said in the recording, there's a bitch out there, named Cinder._ " Leaf said, " _She works for the Grimm bitch queen, Salem._ "

She then groaned, " _The plan for us? Kill the bitches so you ladies could live happily ever after. Unfortunately, things seem to have ROYALLY hit the fan!_ "

"The parasite attacked, when she fought Cinder to stop her from taking my power." Said Amber, as she came in, with Taiyang following not following too far behind, "She did, however, seemed to be toying with her until that happened."

Leaf groaned in annoyance, " _Dammit, I TOLD her to wait!_ " she said, " _But like always, her damn grief got in the way_ ,"

Ozpin then sighed, "Regardless, you eight, plus you Mister Wukong and Mister Vasilias are now part of something big. And thus it's time we told you about...another secret,"

The students all blinked at that, while Amber sighed as the Headmaster began.

"Tell me children, have you ever heard of the story of the Four Maidens?"

Weiss haughtily laughed. "Who hasn't? It's a bedtime story told to every child on Remnant."

"As with all things, Ms. Schnee, there IS an element of truth to the tale." Taiyang said, "The Maidens do exist. Amber here is the Fall Maiden. Ruby appears to be one as well, with her own unique powers...however, what it does, and how it's supposed to transferred we don't know. In fact, we don't if they can be transferred to a different host at all,"

" _Yes, they can._ " Leaf clarified, " _But important thing is, what he says is true, the Maidens did exist, but unfortunately there were a bunch of power hungry assholes out there who tried to steal the powers by killing the maidens, thus they were forced into hiding. Amber here, in the original timeline was attacked by the three stooges and they succeeded in getting half of her powers leaving her in a coma before Qrow showed up. Then months later, the bastard Ozpin here chose Pyrrha Nikos to be the next Fall Maiden in Amber's place...but it didn't happen that way,_ "

Ozpin, along with Glynda glared at the A.I. for the 'bastard' remark. But kept silent for now.

" _Apparently, Cinder found out and put out two attacks: one to breach Vale's walls and allow the Grimm inside using the Mountain Glenn tunnels._ " Leaf continued, " _That partially failed, but Atlas was given the job of security for the festival. This also backfired as the robots turned against us when Roman Torchwick used a computer virus designed by the asshole scientist, Arthur Watts to gain control, and destroyed the Atlas Air Fleet ships posted in Vale Airspace. Then, Cinder used the White fang and Grimm to besiege the city. Apparently, we fell, and Cinder claimed the rest of Amber's powers._ "

The A.I. then sighed, " _Ozpin then ordered Pyrrha and Jaune to go get help while he held the bitch in the vault in order to keep her from getting away, but with the Maiden powers_ ," she said, " _And of course, you probably know the rest, if you watched the vid message she left._ "

"We did." Jaune said, "It sucked."

" _Well, then you should've told me before I played storyteller!_ " Leaf smart mouthed, " _Now where the hell's my Ruby? Same place you kept Amber when she was fucked over by that bitch?_ "

"It seemed to be secure enough." Ozpin said, trying to placate the A.I. "We've increased security around the city."

" _Really?_ " Leaf said sarcastically, " _Ya think that's gonna fucking scare them? Salem fucked you over when you pulled that trick, Ozzy. And let's not forget that fucking Scaredy Cat in Haven_!"

The old man raised an eyebrow at that.

"We're not making the same mistakes." The Headmaster tried to reassure, "We're not giving Torchwick a chance to stick a knife in our backs, and we've locked the CCT towers out. Only a select few have the passwords, and of course I've...delayed in giving Leo his."

Leaf rolled her 'eyes'. " _Please, Cinder is smarter than that. She could just find another way to get in. Powers or no powers, she is still dangerous. In fact, she's probably either hunting for Ruby, Miss Fall over there, or the other Maidens including the right now to compensate for failing to get Lady Autumn's_ " she laid out.

"Believe me, we're making sure they're kept safe." Ozpin assured, with Leaf not looking so convinced.

" _Try_ harder _._ " she ground out, " _And keep My Ruby doped up. In her current state, she's suicidal, and outright out of her mind. She'll probably try to kill whoever she runs into._ "

"She did." Ozpin said, "It's why Teams RWBY and JNPR are here."

" _Well that's just fucking fantastic,_ " Leaf groaned sarcastically, " _Well just make sure it doesn't happen again, Mr Wizard, and be ready. Oh, and once General Ironwood comes back, with his entire fleet, tell him to be a bit more, I don't know, DISCREET!_ "

"I will inform him." Ozpin said in compliance, "Now, you're probably worried about Ruby-"

" _FUCK YES I AM!_ " Leaf yelled, cutting him off. " _SO STOP STALLING ME, AND TAKE ME TO HER DAMMIT!_ "

Ozpin was nonplussed. "Very well, I'll take you to check on her. And I can trust you all to keep this a secret?"

Both teams, and the two boys from Team SSSN nodded, all solemn and serious. Even Ruby and Nora.

"Good, then you're free to go back to your dorms," he said, and the teams left as Ozpin sighed standing back up.

"Oh, and before I forget, Ozdick. No, I'm not telling you where the relics that the Sisters gave us are hidden...," Leaf bit out, "You fucked up in protecting the other four, so while you're free to know what they are and what they do, we're not risking them being captured by Salem because you made a screw up!"

Ozpin could only sigh as he nodded, before grabbing the scroll, causing Leaf's avatar form to disappear. The Headmaster looked outside at the city of Vale, knowing things were getting more hectic.

* * *

 _ **Patriot-112: And another completed, and the reviews are beginning to stack up again. I hope everyone of you are enjoying yourselves and being good little Kinder, Ja?**_

 _ **LOL! Sorry, sorry, had to do it.**_

 _ **Be sure to leave a review, and remember to fave or follow. Later!**_


	6. Chapter 5: Fruits of Labor

_**Patriot-112: Yo!...and that's it. Moving on!**_

* * *

 _ **Chapter Four**_

 _ **Fruits of Labor**_

* * *

 _ **Outisde Beacon**_

 _ **Emerald Forest**_

* * *

Seven figures stood in a circle around a fire, as a conversation took place. It was dark enough so that the only things that could be seen were their limbs, half of their faces, and their legs.

"Today was the day when she woke up and went on a rampage...dammit!"

"Hey, take it easy...,"

"How can I take it easy when she's in there all alone and suffering!?"

"You're not the only one worried about her. The rest of us are just as worried sick about her,"

"This is more than just being worried!"

"Just calm down! Unless you want to bring in another hoard of Grimm like what happened at the Farm?"

"Please don't remind me of that place...I still get nightmares,"

"At least the Apathy there won't claim anymore lives, and we gave the former inhabitants a proper burial."

"Doesn't mean I'll ever sleep there, again."

"Look it won't be much longer, now. Tomorrow's the perfect chance to go in, and tell them about everything,"

"*Sigh*...This is sure gonna cause one hell of a Butterfly Effect."

"We'll worry about the damn consequences later... I just want to see her again,"

"Let's just get some sleep, tomorrow's gonna be a big day."

With, every one of the shadow figures nodded before they laid down in their sleeping bags and went into a dreamless slumber.

* * *

 _ **Hours Later**_

 _ **Beacon Academy**_

 _ **Team RWBY Dorm**_

* * *

Ruby was tossing and turning in her sleep, while sweat dripped her face before she sat up and screamed in fright. Her eyes wide and bloodshot as she remembered what she just witnessed in her dreams.

All she saw was fire. And everyone she loved, dead.

She brought her knees up to her chest, as her bunk bed, swayed on its' ropes.

"You too, Rubes?"

She turned and saw her sister looking at her in concern. And she wasn't alone as both Weiss and Blake were also awake, both of them with dread on their faces. Ruby only sighed as she nodded her head, realizing they all had the same dream.

"So much pain..." the young scythe wielder said, as she shook in fright, "How did she deal with it?"

"I don't think she did, sis." Yang concluded, as she got on Ruby's bunk and place a hand on her shoulder, "That attack she did on us, yesterday... I completely agree was enough to signal that."

Blake then came up with the wisest decision that all of them needed to hear.

"Let's go outside...," she said, "...we're not going back to sleep. Not with those images still inside our heads."

"I agree, I don't want to go through that again," Weiss and all the girls nodded in agreement and got dressed in their normal clothes and left their dorm, only to see Team JNPR out in the hall, all dressed in their clothes as well, and looking tired.

"You guys, too, huh?" said Jaune, and Ruby nodded.

"Yeah...," she said, "We're heading outside, wanna join us?"

"Sure." Ren said a little groggily, "Anything to get the nightmares out of my head."

"Want me to smash their legs, Ren?" Nora said, passionately.

The black and magenta-haired boy just shook his head. "No, but thank you for the thought, Nora."

The eight left the dorms, still trying to shake the images out of their heads. They weren't succeeding.

"I still can't my head around it?" Weiss said, gaining confused looks, "A family of Gods...timetravel...the end of the world?"

"I'm still trying to wrap my head around it as well," said Blake, and sighed, "But, I can be sure of one thing, the Church of Oum, will not be happy to learn that Oum probably doesn't exist."

Everyone gave a collective nod at that. Even though they have may have said the name Oum multiple times, concerning that it's the only monotheistic religion on Remnant, it didn't mean they were extremely over religious about it.

"Let's not talk about it, though," said Jaune, "Don't want the more radical members to hunt us down and skin alive for speaking blasphemy,"

Everyone shuddered at that.

"Way to go, giving us possibly more things to worry about, Jaune?" commented Ruby.

"Look, let's focus on something else. Like our weapons!" Yang said, "Maybe Big Ruby thought up of some fancy upgrades for us!"

The younger Rose pouted at the name.

Poor girl was getting jealous of her older self's more mature body.

"We're gonna have to ask that rude A.I. though," Weiss groaned, "Her cursing nearly made me blow my own top yesterday,"

"Too late for me, though," Ruby grumbled, "If she insults me again, I'm gonna erase her myself."

That decided, they left for Ozpin's office, which they had semi-unlimited access to, thanks to joining to the 'society' that Ozpin had formed around himself.

Unfortunately, and unknown to them, they were being tailed.

* * *

Leaf was pissed. Her partner was several hundred feet underground while she was in the open air! Ruby didn't deserve to be trapped down there, but unfortunately it was probably for the best, much to her disgruntlement. If she had a real body she go after that bitch Cinder herself and beat her within an inch of her life.

"Fucking psychotic fire bitch," she grumbled, before looking at the Scroll that served as her home, specifically toward a certain red button on the screen that read 'K-9 Three'. "I'll have to call him in order to protect Ruby...poor mutt's probably worried sick,"

Before she could do so, the elevator doors opened, and out came the younger morons and her creator's younger self.

"Well, if it isn't the younger fools." Leaf snarled, "What the fuck can I do for you?"

Everyone glared at the A.I. for that, but the A.I. just rolled her eyes.

"Look, you hate us-" Jaune said, only for him to be silenced by Leaf's raised hand.

"Hate? Fuck no! Disappointed? VERY." she said, making everyone wince, "You all died so easily. Granted, it took an entire horde of Grimm, an hypocritical asshole, a demented scorpion faunus, an egotistical shitbird of a scientist, and let's not forget my least three favorites, the damn Hallucinogist, the fucking cyborg, and the damn False Maiden. Seriously, Ruby manages to turn Alpha-class Grimm to stone every day!"

The teens all gaped at that, turning to Ruby who was looking more jealous, but also a little excited in how much of a badass she becomes.

"...Ok look. We just want to know if Ruby, the older one, made any upgrades to our gear." Yang said, while Leaf was debating for a bit, before she sighed.

"Be happy that she loves you all. Including you Mini-Rube," the A.I. said, much to the Younger Ruby's surprise.

"Hey, she wants you to be strong and succeed where she failed," Leaf spoke plainly, "I'm not one to argue with her when it comes to people she wants to save."

The AI looked at them before suddenly blinking and turning a darker tint.

"Fuck me...," she said, making the others blink at the tone the A.I. used before she suddenly exploded, "...you were followed, you IDIOTS!"

The two teams eyes widened at that, before the elevator dinged it's arrival.

Yang reacted first, before she spun around throwing out a punch.

But then her hand was caught by a slightly taller blonde woman, wearing a wearing a tan jacket with orange lining and gold edging, unzipped halfway to show an orange crop top, the coat itself had darker brown short sleeves, a thick collar that completely encircles her neck, and two long gold-trimmed rectangular tails. Followed by this, she also took note of the black fingerless gloves, with brown cuffs, and finally, a pair of brown knee high boots, with golden caps on the heels and toe fronts. Then, there was the hand that caught her's...which looked like a yellow on black robotic hand. And then the woman spoke, in a voice eerily similarly, but much mature version of her voice.

"Wow, I really DID have a bad temper when I was a kid."

Yang's jaw dropped. Sans hair and eyes, she could swear honestly swore he was looking at her mother wearing a close resemblance to her outfit.

"Well, you WERE quite the hothead back in the day," now it was Weiss' turn to be shocked as she saw what looked like her older sister, but with her hairstyle, and the clothes she was wearing being a short, glittering dress with a color gradation of blue to pale blue at the hem, a sweetheart neckline, and a white, tulle petticoat, with a white ribbon wrapped multiple times around her waist. Finishing it off were a pair of sapphire teardrop earrings, dark blue hedge heels, and finally a pair of tights the same color as her dress.

Then everyone's jaws went slack as they saw what just entered the room with them.

"WHAT. THE. FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-!?" was the appropriate response for both Yang and Leaf.

One had an armor set akin to Pyrrha's, only with more flexible plating in the midsection, and extra pieces protecting the upper portions her chest, especially the heart with a emerald gem in the middle. The person wearing it also had a resemblance to Pyrrha, only with slightly longer hair and more tired eyes.

The man beside her had more armor, which was colored white with gold accents, a red sash around his waist, secured by his belt, and instead of the black hoodie sweatshirt, it was a black leather trench coat, with a hood, and finished off with brown lace up boots with steel toed caps. But otherwise, he looked like an older Jaune, with the slight stubble beard to match.

Then there was one who looked like Ren, instead his hair was out of it's ponytail, and down to his rear end. His clothes were a long sleeveless tailcoat, with a black turtleneck t-shirt underneath it, with red tasseled ropes over the hips, white pants that tighten at the bottom, with the final touch being a pair of open toed black boots. He also had a small moustache and a goatee, that gave the green ninja the shocking impression that he looked like his late father.

Nora was looking at her own doppelganger, who was wearing a black with pink pipe stripe bomber jacket, with her favorite white shirt under it, with a diagonal cut going across it, a longer pink pleated skirt, pink fingerless gloves, and white black-trimmed knee high boots over white knee length socks.

Then there was the last person, who looked like a Blake, with said Cat Faunus, thinking she was looking at her mother though the woman before her looked younger, and had longer hair. The clothes she was wearing included a white tailcoat of her own over a black crop top, with rectangular and diamond shaped cutouts, black tight fitting pants with a white belt securing them, and black thigh high boots, with gold trim. And the most glaring difference...no bow hiding her cat ears.

Either they and the AI were on drugs, or somehow, there was an older WBY and JNPR in the room with them.

"Hey close those mouths, you're gonna let flies in," the older looking Jaune said jokingly, while Leaf was comically looking back and forth between the two groups before she suddenly blew her top.

"SERIOUSLY! WHAT THE FUCK!? HOW IS THIS IS EVEN POSSIBLE!?" The A.I. shouted, then pointed at the two Elder Teams "Y-You should all be dead in the future! How is it-!?"

"That future doesn't exist anymore, Leaf. The moment she went back, all of history was changed. The second she arrived to attack Cinder, a new timeline was created." The older Blake interrupted, "Temporal and spatial mechanics are hard to understand on the best of days. The easiest way to say it is that we went back 10 years to today, from a different alternate reality to Ruby's, which was the best option. Didn't want to erase our Ruby from existence."

"Your Ruby?" Weiss said blinking, "You mean the Ruby...?"

"Not the one in the basement, our Ruby...who unfortunately died in our alternate time," Lie Ren said, causing everyone's eyes to widen, especially the Younger Ruby.

"You see, after our Ruby saw the older one's life in the original future, she took it upon herself to make sure it didn't happen to her," the Elder Weiss said sadly, "She was killed during the war, that still happened after sustaining wounds during the battle with Salem and her followers... It was NOT a pretty fight. While Cinder died first, Ruby didn't survive long enough to stop Salem from using the artifacts... and I had to watch her die."

Everyone was horrified at that, as Ruby began to shake, until she was comforted by her sister. Giving a nod of thanks, she decided to ask one question.

"W...What about the older...me?" Ruby asked, getting confused, and scared. It increased when she saw everyone of the older members of both Teams have grief-stricken expressions on their faces.

"Cinder killed her instead of Pyrrha during the Vytal Festival disaster." said the older Nora, shocking everyone of the younger Team RWBY and JNPR, "The fall still happened, though major differences being that Tyrian Callows and Hazel Reinhart showed and made things difficult. But if anything we DID manage to take care of the White Fang: Adam Taurus died that night, thanks to Taiyang dealing with him, but not before he cut off Yang's arm,"

The Younger Yang winced as she looked her older counterpart's robotic right arm.

The Elder Pyrrha face took a solemn look as she took over, "Of course, Tyrian and Hazel were just the distraction, Cinder, along with Emerald and Mercury went down to the vault, where the Future Ruby was still recovering after being given the dust which destroyed the Grimm Parasite. They defeated Amber as she was protecting her, before Cinder used that damn glove of hers to steal the Fall Maiden powers...which we arrived to just seconds before she finished."

The Elder Pyrrha shook with fury at the memory. "Cinder then had her posse keep me and the others busy while she took her from the bed and up the tower. I immediately went after her, while Jaune the others were busy with Mercury and Emerald...,"

The younger versions then noticed her vivid green eyes glistening with tears as she continued.

"I knew I was no match for her... and I swore I thought I could hear Ruby's voice screaming in my head for me not to come. But I knew I had to try and delay her in order for help to come..." her hair then shadowed her eyes, "...but I underestimated Cinder, and I was wounded when an glass arrow hit me in the ankle... And she was about to fire the killing shot..."

* * *

Elder Pyrrha's Flashback

* * *

The arrow had hit her Achilles tendon, which resulted in her being unable to stand up.

The young woman fell to her knees before she heard the telltale sound of a bowstring being pulled back. She looked up to see Cinder, looking slightly unhinged from all the nightmares she'd been having, drawing the bow back, smirking crazily.

"Sorry." she said, not really sorry, "It's nothing personal."

Pyrrha glared at her, all the while, Ruby's warning to her kept repeating in her head. And now, she was making the Red Hooded Reaper's sacrifice be in vain.

But then...

"CINDER!"

The shout was heard just as the false Maiden was about to release the arrow, only for her to see the Elder Ruby up and about, her silver eyes glowing along with the silver flaming eyes of her maiden powers. However, she was breathing heavily and tiredly, and her aura looked to be down to almost nothing. However, she didn't need aura to kill the flame wielding bitch before her.

"LEAVE HER ALONE! YOUR FIGHT'S WITH ME BITCH!" The raven redhead yelled, as Cinder looked at the woman with slight fear, before looking at the young Mistralian girl on the ground and then back to Ruby, before a sick twisted thought entered her mind, as she smirked deviously.

"You really care for her, huh?" she said, her hand still on the string, "Though I wonder how fast you can be once I release the arrow,"

Ruby's eyes widened in horror, "YOU FUCKING COWARD!" she shouted just as Cinder proceeded to let go of the string, sending the arrow at Pyrrha, who was watching everything happen in slow-motion.

She closed her eyes at the last moment.

'I'm sorry Ruby...I'm sorry Jaune...,' were her thoughts as she awaited her demise.

Pyrrha didn't notice the arrow going through her chest. Because it never DID.

Instead, she was shoved aside, her shoulder hitting the rubble, all the while hearing a pained gasp and another body falling and hitting the ground with a thud. When she opened her eyes, before they widened to a horrible sight...

Ruby was on the ground, an arrow through her chest, as blood began to pool. Cinder was laughing like a maniac, as though she had discovered a punchline to a sick joke.

Pyrrha then quickly tried to move toward her, the task difficult due to her current injury. She crawled until she was able to get beside Ruby as she lifted the barely breathing woman into her arms. Her left hand cradling her head, while her right held onto one of Ruby's own.

"Ruby?! Ruby!" she shouted in desperation, "Come on! Stay with me! Please!"

"I-I...I did it..." gasped out the scythe wielder, making Pyrrha blink, as Ruby opened her eyes, though she can see it was difficult for her to keep them open, "...I...I m-managed...to get...on time...,"

"Ruby, please don't talk! You're gonna be fine!" The Spartan said worriedly.

"No, Pyrrha...I'm not coming back from this...you can't save me," the elder said sadly, as she then coughed up blood. "I can feel the internal bleeding... I'm done...,"

"No! Don't say that!" Pyrrha begged, while tears glistened in her eyes, "You're gonna live! You hear me!?"

Ruby didn't say anything as she looked up to the sky, seeing the shattered moon of Remnant.

"Ya know...I never thought... the moon would ever... look so much more... beautiful right now...,"

Pyrrha's tear stung her eyes as she heard her friend talk.

"Please, don't talk. Save your strength!" the champion pleaded, her voice cracking, but was then surprised by what Ruby said next, while her free hand slowly raised up to caress her cheek.

"I don't need it. I need you and the others to be strong, stronger than anything else in your life," the woman then smiled as tears fell from her eyes, and blood dripped from the corners of her mouth, "Please, promise that you'll...live...no m-matter what... please... P-Pyrrha... live...-"

With that, the Elder Ruby closed her eyes, head lolling to side and her hand fell with a soft thump on the glass floor of Ozpin's office, leaving Pyrrha shocked, her eyes widening.

"R...Ruby?" she whispered, but no response came, "...Ruby!?"

She felt something within her very aura changed, as a silver outline began to glow around her, before she gave one more final scream to the heavens.

"RUBY!"

A brief glow enveloped the Spartan, which made Cinder pissed beyond measure.

"NOOOOOOOO! THAT WAS MINE! MINE!" Cinder screeched, formed another arrow in the nock, drawing it back as she continued raving. "MIIIIIIIIIINNNNNEEEEEE!"*

Having heard enough of the woman who killed her friend. Pyrrha used her semblance to throw what was left of Milo to attack the apprentice of Salem. Forcing her to jump back. Cinder then watched as the red headed champion managed to stand up, the Silver Maiden powers going into overdrive, as the wound in her tendon healed. She could see her mouth formed into a snarl as she used her semblance to actually reforge the weapon.

"You...killed her...," the young woman growled out, "You killed her!"

She then snapped her head up, her green eyes flashing in rage, as tears fell.

"YOU KILLED HER!"

Cinder, in desperation, shot off arrow after arrow at the Champion, but Pyrrha just now cut through them.

Giving a feral war cry, Pyrrha slashed the weapon at Cinder, leaving a deep cut on her chest. She then proceeded to give the bitch a whole flurry of cuts on her arms and legs, until she eventually left a good cut across her face, all the while her grief and rage driving her on. She proceeded to give a strong kick to the false maiden sending her into the remains of a wall.

"You murdered my sister." Pyrrha intoned, her expression non changing, "You murdered the one person in the world I could call my SISTER! AND NOW YOU'RE GOING TO PAY WITH YOUR LIFE!"

What Pyrrha didn't notice was that the Younger had shown up just in time to hear what the Spartan said, before looking around and her own silver eyes widened in horror...and thus, like her counterpart...

"NOOOOOO!"

A wave of silver washed over everyone, as the Wyvern roared in anger and shock, while the silver eyed power also proceeded to burn away Cinder's arm and eye, due to the fact she used the Grimm Scarab to steal Amber's Fall Maiden power.

The light lasted for a moment before it died down, and Pyrrha, having been blinded by the sudden light, blinked away the blurriness in order to finish Cinder off, but then her saw jumping away, and onto a passing Griffon.

Seeing her retreat, and letting off one final scream of anger, the red headed champion turned back to the now dead woman on the ground, a small content smile on her now cooling face.

Pyrrha dropped Milo, resulting in a metallic thud, as he walked slowly back toward the body, before dropping to her knees and scooping Elder Ruby's corpse into her arms, as she began sobbing into the crook of her neck.

* * *

End of Flashback

* * *

"She died in my arms...," Pyrrha said as she wept, "But in the end... she died with a smile on her face."

The Elder Jaune placed an arm around her shoulders which the Mistralian appreciated as she wrapped her own arms around him.

The younger teams weren't exactly pleased with the turn of events. Instead of one mentally and emotionally damaged woman, seven almost as equally damaged people survived the end of civilization. In a strange, and tragic way, it also equaled two complete RWBYs and JNPRs.

The younger Ruby was affected out of this the most, learning that both she and her alternate older self will die.

"Wha...what happens now?" she said, causing everyone to look at her. It was the older Yang who answered, as a smile came across her face.

"Well, for us, we're gonna be protecting the other Ruby," the elder blonde said, "Not just from Cinder and Salem, but from herself."

Before anyone could continue, the elevator opened again, admitting Ozpin and Glynda, who stopped at what they were seeing.

"Either my many years of coffee drinking have finally caught up with me...," The professor began, " ...or there are two sets of the same teams in my office."

"Headmaster, I don't think you're hallucinating. Though I wish you were." was Glynda said as she looked between the younger teams and the Elder ones.

"Oh! Hey Professor Oz!" the Elder Yang said, though everyone took notice of the devious grin on her face, as well as the heated glares on the others, "Long time no see!"

The Younger versions were concerned at the antagonistic stares that their older counterparts were directing at the Headmaster, especially since some of them, including Pyrrha, Jaune, and Weiss, were gripping the handles of their respective weapons VERY tightly.

They were not the only ones as Ozpin took note of the hostile expressions on their faces.

"Is...something wrong?" he asked, though was still slightly freaking out...until what he heard next made him want to really shit his pants.

"Oh, I don't know, Ozma." E-Weiss said sarcastically, "Would there be anything wrong?

Ozpin's eyes widen to epic proportions at the mention of his true name, while the present versions of the two team looking at the confrontation with unease and confusion.

"Uhh... is there something we should know?" Ruby said, her voice taking on a worried tone, which seemed to snap the time travelers out of their glaring at the Professor, and toward the Rose Reaper herself.

"We'll tell you at another time," E-Blake said, "Right now though, we have more pressing matters,"

"Cinder's fear of Ruby is forcing her more and more to rely on the White Fang, who are setting up a staging point for the breach in Mountain Glenn." E-Ren said, "During this, she still plans to have Roman get captured."

"I presume we're not going to do that?" Ruby said, a little dejectedly.

The older Yang patted her Blake's shoulder. "Nope. Blake here will deal with him." she explained, "She's got some things she wants to resolve with that bastard."

The younger Team RWBY sighed, that they were gonna miss out on the action, but then Ruby felt a hand on her head and looked up at the older version of her sister.

"But don't worry, you'll get plenty of ass-kicking later," she said, and Ruby noticed the slight sadness in her eyes.

The older Weiss tapped the pommel of her sword, getting impatient. "If you all don't mind, Ozma, we would like to see the other Ruby." she said, making the younger Weiss blink at the sound of...great concern in her voice, as well as the great hostility toward Ozpin.

Ozpin sighed at that. "Of course...though, I believe the elevator will have to make a few trips,"

* * *

The older Weiss had been tapping her foot the entire time, while her younger counterpart was wondering a few things: why was she pissed at Professor Ozpin, why did she call him Ozma...twice, and why the heck was she tapping her foot so impatiently?

"Can't this damn bucket move just a LITTLE bit faster?," the older woman growled, growing more impatient.

"Please Miss Schnee, try to be patient," Ozpin said, causing the woman to glare at him.

"Ruby was...is very important to me." the Elder Weiss said, her voice tinged with sorrow, "I want to make sure she's fine."

The elevator doors opened before the group exited the lift, the older Weiss using a glyph to launch herself above the others and reach Ruby's pod.

"My Gods, she REALLY wants to see Ruby." the Younger Weiss said, blinking at the hastiness of her older self.

"Trust me, little Schnee," the elder Blake said with a small smirk, "You do not know the half of it."

They watched as the elder Schnee approached the unit, just as the guards spotted her and told her to halt, but the elder Weiss was not having any of that.

"You better move out of my way if you know what's good for you," she growled out, as she put her hand on her rapier for extra emphasis.

The guards, seeing that she meant business, and seeing the look from Ozpin to do what she says, wisely let her past as they saw the growing cold fury in her eyes, that reminded them of a certain Schnee Specialist.

The elder-yet-younger Schnee walked up to the pod, seeing the older Rose inside.

"Ruby...," she said breathlessly as she walked to the right side and knelt down next to the bed as she grasped her hand, tears falling from her sky blue eyes "I'm so sorry it took me so long."

The other Elder Team RWBY members arrived, and Yang immediately went to the other side of her time traveled wary sister. A sad, but happy grin, on her face.

"Hey Rubes," Elder Yang said, as she began patting her sister's head, "It's us...ya did good little sis,"

The older Ruby whimpered as she slowly opened her eyes. But when she saw all the elder forms of three of the people she cared about the most, her eyes immediately shot wide open before she started screaming. This shocked the other RWBY members as they acted quickly to hold her down to prevent from hurting herself.

"Ruby!" E-Blake shouted as the team leader and youngest member of Team RWBY started thrashing around, "Ruby, it's alright! It's us!"

"Please calm down!" E-Weiss said in worry as she tried to hold her down.

"Fuck, I forgot how bad she was before the tournament!" E-Yang said as she tried to help the silverette control her sister.

E-Ruby then began to cough up blood, which briefly ended the screaming before it started up again. This was seen by the Team JNPRs and the elder ones rushed in to help.

"The Dust!" Elder Jaune shouted, as he held down one of E-Ruby's legs, "Where is it?!"

Glynda immediately came in and injected the White Dust into E-Ruby, causing the normal stiffening before she calmed down, and the brief glow appeared. The two elder teams all looked on as the coughed up blood dripped down the side of E-Ruby's face as it seeped through the OT mask. E-Weiss immediately grabbed a cloth from one of the others, removed the mask, and wiped E-Ruby's face of the blood.

"Where the hell's that damn cure!" The heiress shouted, frantic worry clear as day in her tone.

"You of all people should know how unstable Dust can be in its' natural state, Weiss!" E-Ren sternly lectured, "And this is pure Dust; it takes time!"

"She barely survived the last time!" E-Nora added in, "In fact, that's why she died in the first place; she didn't have enough time to fully recover from the experience!"

E-Weiss didn't say anything else as she just let her emotionless wall break as tears leaked from her eyes. She then bent down and gently cradled E-Ruby's head.

"It's okay Ruby..." she whispered gently, "I'm here, and I'm not going anywhere else. You'll be alright, now, you hear me? Just...just hang on,"

The younger RWBY and JNPR watched the scene play out in front of them, all of them really disturbed and worried. The younger Ruby watched as her older self silently whimpered as the older Weiss continued to try and comfort her. One thing was for sure for all involved...time was running out...and fast.

* * *

Patriot-112: Done! Hope you all enjoyed this redone chapter of Warning from the Future! We're getting close to where we left off, just hang for a little bit longer okay?

*: Come on, you guys have to know which scumbag screamed like this when he loses a kill.


	7. Chapter 6: Messages, Backup, and Thieves

_**Patriot-112: Here we are, the next chapter. In this modified chapter I've been editing and tweaking for a LONG time, we get the other messages that canon older Ruby gave to her loved ones, as well her past self. So without further ado, let's begin!**_

* * *

 _ **Chapter 6:**_

 _ **Messages, Backup, and Thieves**_

* * *

 _ **Team RWBY Dorm**_

* * *

Ruby was looking through the scroll of her older self. Her memory of what happened earlier today still fresh in her mind. Especially the part concerning her partner, and BFF's, counterpart, and her rather ...extreme hostility toward Ozpin.

* * *

 _ **Flashback**_

 _ **The Vault**_

* * *

The Present JNPR and RWBY looked on at their counterparts as E-Weiss continued to embrace the unconscious Elder Ruby, after her panic attack nearly caused the 'Strangler' to almost kill her. The worry was clearly present in all the older versions of themselves.

But then that changed when Ozpin spoke up.

"I know the situation is dire, but rest assured that the Dust is on it's way, and with your help-," he began to say until...

"Shut up...," E-Weiss growled, causing everyone to recoil at the more than usual ice cold growl.

"Miss Schnee I believe-," Glynda attempted to scold but E-Weiss was not having any of it.

"I SAID SHUT UP!" she screeched, and now everyone, including the Present Weiss were now more than shocked, "This is your fault in the first place you foolish old man!"

Ozpin looked like he wanted to counter it, but E-Weiss didn't let him, as the other Elder RWBY members, along with JNPR glared at him.

"If you hadn't gotten us involved in your damn war with Salem, she wouldn't be in this mess! If you had just told the truth to everyone, instead of hiding it out of fear of people betraying you, she wouldn't have to bear this burden on her own!" The future Weiss clenched her hands as she continued, "And thanks your blind devotion on fighting defensive, and your damn cowardice, you cocked up royal! First with your children! The Maidens! Then Rainart's sister! Ruby's mother! Then Pyrrha! And then the rest of us! WHEN DOES IT STOP!?"

Everyone else were just stunned into silence at the Older Weiss' rant, but Ruby, having been listening to what the future alternate version of her partner said, caught on to something.

"Wait...what do you mean his children?" she asked, and the older Weiss looked to her, and her gaze softened considerably at seeing the younger version of her partner.

However, it was Blake who answered for Weiss.

"There's a message on Ruby's scroll to Ozpin..." she said, making everyone blink, and Ozpin nervous, "It will explain everything,"

The others blinked before Ruby, surprisingly to everyone else, brought out the said device.

"I picked it up before we left Ozpin's office, I wanted to see later what messages she had for the rest of us," she said, and her team sighed, as she gave a sheepish chuckle.

E-Weiss only smiled at the younger counterpart of her partner.

"Then be sure that you and the others watch them all," the silverette said softly, making Ruby blink before she nodded.

* * *

 _ **Flashback End**_

* * *

She'd seen most of the vids regarding the others, including a message to herself.

Which was quite the mindfuck, to say the least. And of course, her counterpart thought so as well.

* * *

 _ **Ruby Message**_

* * *

Ruby could only gulp as she looked at the image of her future self looking back at her, clearly nervous.

" _Well...I'm probably just gonna label myself insane after this,_ " E-Ruby said as she chuckled nervously, while Y-Ruby could only feel the same way, before the elder took a deep breath.

" _Right, well, first things first I guess. And that is about our silver eyes_ ," she said, making the Present Ruby blink, " _If you watched my...introductory video, you're probably still wondering what these eyes actually do. Well, they can either blind, vaporize, or turn any Grimm, from the lowest to the highest classes, to stone._ "

The young Rose's eyes actually widened at that.

" _Yeah I know. Awesome isn't it?_ " she rhetorically, though jokingly asked, before stiffening and looking around in fear, before looking back at the camera and whispering just low enough for the younger Ruby to hear, " _Don't tell Maria I said that, or she'll hit you over the head with her staff... In fact, there other things you should also watch what you say. I made a list so you'll remember._ "

Ruby, though confused by what her older counterpart said, felt a chill of foreboding down her spine, and decided to just take her Future-self's words to heart.

" _Right, now then...let's get to the more important details about our eyes, shall we?_ "

* * *

Needless to say, she learned a great deal from the message to her. And though Maria was kind and helpful to her, Elder Ruby's warnings reminded her of the infamous smacks to the head, and thus restrained herself from saying anything childish.

Then, there was the message she and her sister watched, more for the latter than anything.

* * *

 _ **Yang Message**_

* * *

Both sisters watched as E-Ruby began to speak.

" _Hey sis...no doubt you're more than confused right now, and quite possibly being an even bigger mother hen after finding out how my future will be_ ," she attempted to joke, but just chuckled nervously, " _...Uhhhh, yeah, that wasn't funny at all,_ "

Yang could only give a deadpan look at that.

"You're damn right it wasn't," she said only to receive an elbow from her sibling.

" _Anyway, first and foremost, a warning, if you ever run into Adam Taurus and have no choice but to fight him, make sure you're not alone...have Dad, or Blake, heck even Team CRDL with you...on second thought, don't bring in CRDL,_ " she muttered the last part, but Yang managed to snicker, while Ruby giggled, knowing that it was true...especially considering today.

" _Secondly...I just want to say that...I'm sorry_ ," she said, making the two girls blink in confusion, while Yang was greatly worried, " _I'm sorry I left you behind in Patch, and went across all of Anima to Mistral in order to find answers and take down Cinder. And then...the day that you..._ "

Yang could only look on, as her concern got worse, as the...her sister just began to shed tears.

" _I...I have no right of being called your little sister...especially since I left you behind, not just once...but twice_ ," she said, and the reaction was expected as the blonde brawler stood straight up, her eyes red, and her hair glowing.

"THAT'S NOT TRUE!" Yang shouted, mortified and angry at how her sister, her own sister, had downplayed herself. She then went on to rant and scream, repeating how untrue it was. She would've continued had Ruby not grabbed her into a hug, in which the Sunny Dragon quickly returned it.

"Promise me Ruby...," Yang whispered into Ruby's ear, "Promise me that you'll never speak of yourself like that! Do you understand me?"

Ruby only nodded into her shoulder, as she snuggled into her big sister's embrace.

* * *

Then, came the message for Blake. And to say said hidden Faunus was a nervous wreck was an understatement.

* * *

 _ **Blake Message**_

* * *

Blake gulped as the message began to play.

" _Hey Blake!_ " E-Ruby said, " _I hope you're not too nervous about this message as I am about recording them...but, I have nothing better else so I'll get straight to the point. If you had watched the first message then you figured out that I know about you and Adam,_ "

The Cat Faunus winced as her ears flattened against her head.

" _I know you're scared about him finding you, and possibly killing us in order to get back at you for leaving him."_ she continued, " _But please know, that everything he did...it was NOT. YOUR. FAULT. All the people he's victimized, the graveyards he's filled, the friends he will cripple...that was all him. Remember that._ "

Blake blinked owlishly as Ruby enforced her statement that it wasn't her fault.

" _Also, you have us...Team RWBY, Team JNPR, Sun, your parents, and all of our friends right beside you to help you out if he shows his masked delusional mug in front of you._ " E-Ruby said, which touched the cat faunus as she made a kitty cat smile, but then she saw Ruby give a mischievous grin. " _So, trust in us Kitty Kat! Or I will spoil the future volumes of those books you read_ ,"

The blush that followed would rival Pyrrha's hair, all the while thinking.

 _'NOOOOO! No spoilers!'_

* * *

Later, after watching the rest of her message, Blake went to visit the elder Ruby, and while she was still asleep, and gave the older Rose Reaper a sisterly kiss on the forehead, before thanking her.

She then left for the CCT in order to make a call...to her family.

After Blake had finished it was Weiss' turn.

* * *

 _ **Weiss Message**_

* * *

Said Ice Queen gulped silently as she looked at her younger partner's older counterpart.

" _Weiss...*sigh* I don't know where to start to be honest...except that our...relationship, began with a ...rocky start_ " The elder Rose chuckled nervously at that, while Weiss gave a deadpan glare at that.

"Rocky my-ow!" the Schnee yelped, as she was flicked in the ear by her own older counterpart, whom she gave a glare to for a moment before returning to watch the video.

" _And then, our first semester was...at least tolerable, considering the fact that you were...not a very nice person at the time, especially the many shoot-downs of Jaune's multiple date requests,_ " Weiss winced at that, and looked back on how she acted toward the blonde Paladin.

"B _ut the important thing is that you grew out of it. And I know it wasn't your fault...but because of your, sorry not sorry for saying this, your bastard of a father_ ," the Elder said, causing Weiss to sigh irritably, knowing that was true.

" _Thankfully, as time went on, you got better!_ ," E-Ruby said cheerfully as she gave a smile, " _All thanks to me and the others! Not bad for your BFF, eh?_ "

Weiss could only facepalm at that.

"...Gods why...?,"

* * *

Weiss refused to talk about it after that, a look of embarrassment and frustration on her face. But Ruby did manage to catch a glimpse of a small smile. She wanted to call her out on it, but...decided not to.

After Team RWBY finished watching their videos, it was Team JNPR's turn to their's, sans Pyrrha since she already watched hers.

And of course, the first to go up was Jaune.

* * *

 _ **Jaune's Message**_

* * *

The Paladin held the scroll in his hand, while Pyrrha stood next to him. He was still shaken up after watching the first video...and was still reeling from the fact that his partner, who was the first person to actually give a damn about him, would end up murdered in a few months...just the thought of that, didn't sit well with him.

Trying to shake the foreboding thoughts away, he pressed the play button for his message.

" _...Hey Jaune...,_ " E-Ruby said, smiling slightly, while her eyes looked ready to burst in tears, ". _..I bet you're still reeling from all the info in my first video. I would be too, after learning of my possible future._ "

Jaune looked ready to flinch when Pyrrha placed his hand on his shoulder to keep him calm, causing him to look at her and give a grateful smile. He then turned back to the scroll and the elder Ruby continued.

" _But hopefully, I'll be able to change that._ " she said, " _Not just for Remnant...but for you and Pyrrha._ "

Jaune blinked at that, before remembering that the redheaded beauty will kiss him made him blush at that.

". _..When...Pyrrha died...you were just..._ shattered _._ " E-Ruby said, who was finding it difficult to lay out the bad memories, " _Though you managed to hide it well from Ren and Nora...I saw it through it...especially when I saw you one night training, with help from a recording Pyrrha made for you, before she was...taken from us._ "

Behind him Pyrrha closed her eyes in anguish, unable to imagine the grief that Jaune went through.

" _And then...there was the outburst you made at Haven, when Cinder...with no sense of remorse or regret, gloated about the numerous Huntsmen and Huntresses that Leo had betrayed. I had never seen so...furious. I...we, almost lost you that day if I hadn't unconsciously used my silver eyes to stop Cinder...please note, if you ever do that again, I WILL hurt you,_ "

Jaune gulped in fear at the glare he was receiving from the Rose Reaper, before she continued.

" _Then, there was the...incident at Argus, when we gave you the bad news concerning Salem. You... attacked Oscar, an...apprentice to Ozpin, and a friend we picked up in Mistral_ ," the moment she said that, made Jaune greatly worry for his mental health, but a gentle squeeze from Pyrrha managed to distract him from those thoughts. " _Afterwards, he ran away and we all went looking for him. It was...around that time when you ended up in the park and found Pyrrha's statue...and met Pyrrha's mom. You were able to move on, but, you told me that you won't enter into another relationship again. I guess, you didn't want to fully forget about Pyrrha_ "*

Jaune looked at his partner, and the champion only gave a sad smile, which he halfheartedly returned.

" _I wish I could tell you more Jaune, but...right now, the battery to my scroll is almost used up and I still need to make the other messages_ ," The elder Rose stated, " _So, here's some advice...get a clue and see that the girl who is your partner is head over heels for you, Vomit Boy_ ,"

Both future Lovebirds blushed heavily at that. But then Jaune realized what the Elder Ruby said last.

"HEY!"

* * *

After that, the two had been looking at each other weirdly all day, with both of them unable to say anything for a while.

It was then Ren & Nora's turn, since their respective messages were combined into one.

* * *

 _ **Renora Message**_

* * *

" _Hey you two lovebirds!_ " Both Ren and Nora heard which caused them to blink to confusion before blushing, Nora's more prominent than Ren's. The two attempted to deny the claim, but the red hooded rose beat them to it, " _Don't deny it...I know you two have the hots for each other. You just won't admit it._ "

Nora gave a pout, before she made a huff noise and crossed her arms. Meanwhile, Ren looked a little irritated, but otherwise retained his cool expression, though the blushes on their faces were still prominent.

" _Anyway, just wanted you two to know. You guys have been a great help to me and & Jaune during our journey through Anima. Especially when helping with Jaune during his grief._" she said, which was enough to make the not-so-secret couple to lose their blushes, and adopt more somber ones. They remembered what they learned from the first message...the Fall of Beacon...and the future unmending breaking of their team with the death of Pyrrha, whom in the past few months, have already began to form a sibling bond with.

" _But, right now, I don't want to talk about the bad things. Just to give you advice and warnings. For one, if the Fall does occur, stay with Jaune and Pyrrha for as long as possible..._ " her face then turned stony and the two felt she looking straight at them wither her silver gaze, " _...But if you have to face Cinder, don't try to fight her in order to beat her...just delay her until help arrives. That goes double for you Nora!_ "

Said Valkyrie pouted, as she really wanted to use Magnhild to break Cinder's legs.

" _If you're miffed about not getting a shot in, I'll compensate you..._ " The Elder Rose said, making the two blink in curiosity, " _...I left a file for my special chocolate chip, brown sugar pancakes for Ren to make you...sorry Ren but you know that the one thing that'll persuade Nora is Pancakes_ ,"

Nora's eyes glittered like stars, as drool began to drip from her mouth at the thought of such delicious-chocolaty-brown sugary-pancake goodness. Meanwhile Ren sighed tiredly at the thought.

' _Ruby...what have you done?_ '

* * *

That brought out a few good laughs. And they certainly needed them after watching the depressing videos of her counterpart.

However, there was ONE message she had yet to watch. She then reached up to press the play button before she was stopped

" _ **You sure you want to look at that one, little Rose?"**_ said Leaf who appeared in her hologram form, not actually cursing for once " _ **I don't want to see that one again. When my Ruby recorded that one I...I actually cried.**_ "

Ruby was surprised by that, before turning back to the screen, which showed a text screen that said 'Play - Yes or No?'. The vid file itself was labeled as 'Final Farewell'. That alone made Ruby feel dread go down her spine. However, after much thinking about the day's events, she decided she had to know everything about what the Elder Ruby went through, including this. She then turned to Leaf, a determined expression on her face.

"I need to know everything that Ru went through, and that means watching this. If I don't know everything, how am I supposed to help her?" she said with determination, while Leaf sighed.

" _ **Don't say I didn't warn you**_ ," the A.I. warned, but then blinked, " _ **Wait...Ru?**_ "

Ruby smiled sheepishly, "I can't call her Ruby, or Elder Ruby, that would make it look too weird."

Leaf only blinked before accepting it and Ruby played the last message.

" _Hey everyone. If you guys are watching this, that means you did it. You won. You kicked Cinder and Salem's collective asses, and sent the Grimm and White Fang packing. I knew you could do it. But...this is my last stop. I've seen so much, lost so much... Failed so much. The pain is just... too unbearable. I can't live another day, seeing you all in my nightmares. Judging me for my failures._ "

Ruby did not like how that sound.

" _There are no heroes alive where I'm at, since they're all dead. Team JNPR, Team CFVY, Team SSSN, they're all the heroes, while I am not._ " Ru then chuckled, " _I actually heard from Jaune before he died, that the Hero, in most stories he heard or read about, sacrifices his or herself for others, and destroys the bad guys. The survivors all cheer, everybody lives happily ever after. But...the hero, never gets to see that ending. They'll never know, if their sacrifice had paid off, or if it had been in vain. They just hope for the best. Like I am._ "

" _I know that stopping Cinder at just Beacon will only just delay the inevitable. But, if what I leave behind helps in anyway. Maybe, just maybe, you might have a chance_."

Ru then sighed, " _Ain't that a bitch... Oh, and by the way... Don't kill Torchwick. He might be a bastard, but he's actually better than most criminals. Keeps the rest in line. P.S. here's a bonus file for you to hear. After a few years of practice, I finally got it. Now as great as Weiss' singing but... it works. Until then..._ "

The vid ended with Ruby looking more shaken and disturbed than anything. Ru just confessed that she was actually planning on dying, either by the enemy's hands... or her own.

She played the file, since it contained a song. She heard a piano begin to play followed by Ru's voice.

( _ **BGM: Contact Redux - Red vs Blue OST**_ )

' _We've been here so long... Still I remember The rainy September, Contact~ ...Two, four, one, ten, Two, four, one, ten... Am I transmitting? Is anyone listening? Contact~_ "

Ruby started tearing up.

' _We are green and gray~ ...The longness of semper, Still I remember, Contact~ ...Two, four, one, ten. Two, four, one, ten. Am I still willing, To foot all this billing? Contact~_ '

A single tear impacted the ground. It wasn't alone for long.

' _Riding on our shiny metal horses, Singing a rider's song... One of us will be forgotten, The other will be wrong~... Two, four, one, ten. Two, four, one, ten. Am I transmitting? Is anyone listening? Contact~_ '

The younger Rose began to sob, with Leaf joining in after a moment of hearing her partner's singing.

' _When I think of you, Your name's in the sky, Ninety feet high Contact~... Riding on our shiny metal horses, Singing a rider's song... One of us will be forgotten, The other will be wrong~ ...Riding on our shiny metal horses, Singing a rider's song, One of us will be forgotten, The other will be wrong~_ '

' _Two, four, one, ten. Two, four, one, ten. Am I still willing, To foot all this billing? Contact~_ '

Ruby soon wasn't the only one listening, as the rest of Team RWBY and Team JNPR were watching, they heard some of the last of the speech, and were greatly concerned. When the song began playing there were no shortages of sad faces or tear-less eyes.

They then heard Ruby's voice speak up.

"She's my sister now." he swore, her tone filled with conviction, "And she's going to be happy, no matter what. She's NOT going to die, not if I have anything to say about it."

She felt an arm wrap around her shoulder, before feeling the familiar gentle nudge of her sister's head on her own.

"You're not alone on that, Rubes." Yang said, "Delirious or not, she's not gonna die on us."

"Count me in," Blake said as she walked in, and placed a hand on Ruby's shoulder.

"Someone has to make sure you don't make a doltish mistake," Weiss spoke up, which caused her teammates to roll their eyes.

"Yeah, sure Ice Queen," Yang sarcastically teased, which caused a tic mark to appear on her head and glare at the blonde brawler.

"Hey! Don't leave us out!" Nora chirped as Team JNPR came in, "We're sister teams! If you think you're gonna save the future by yourselves, think again!

"Nora's right," Jaune concurred, "This involves all of us. And like Ru said in her scroll, we need to be together...as a team,"

Ren and Pyrrha nodded at that, which caused Ruby to smile at the sister team of RWBY.

"Where could I could get more friends like you guys?" she asked rhetorically, causing them to laugh.

After calming, Ruby turned back to the Scroll, before she blinked.

"Hey...what's this one?" she asked no one in particular, seeing the file tagged 'K-9 Three'.

Leaf, who had been quiet, and just watching the moment, smirked a bit before she spoke up.

" _ **Press it...and be amazed, Little Rose**_ ," the A.I. said, causing everyone to blink.

Ruby, now more curious, did what Leaf said, and pressed the file, before a pop up screen appeared.

' _BW-84i, designation Drei, ready for duty. Call? Yes/No_ '

"Drei?" Ruby asked.

" _ **He's a android dog developed by Atlas**_ ," Leaf began to explain, " _ **Part of a project called Blade Wolf, he's armed to the teeth, but has the mind of any ordinary dog. Ru found him after the cataclysm, and is her constant companion. Since I didn't see him around here, that must mean she had him wait somewhere until she can call him when she needed him**_ ,"

All of the teens were shocked at this, until Ruby, feeling giddy at possibly seeing her future dog, made her decision.

"Well then...let's not keep him waiting any longer," with that, she pressed 'Yes'.

* * *

Somewhere in Remnant, a pair of red robotic eyes blinked on, followed by a metallic growl.

* * *

Roman Torchwick was trying not to die.

A crazy cat lady appeared, attacked him, and was now trying to stab him. And if he wasn't mistaken, she was just toying with him. Like most cats do with a mouse. Playing with it, until they finally get bored and kill it.

It all started on the docks: big dust shipment to take. Five minutes later, all the White Fang morons were out cold and he was running for his life.

' _Shit, shit, shit, SHIIIIIITT!_ ' the criminal cursed mentally, ' _This is sooooo not my night!_ '

"Come on Torchwick, I just wanna talk," the Cat Lady's voice said sweetly, although it sounded TOO sweetly. "If you don't be a good boy, I'll do VERY unpleasant things to you,"

He was willing to do ANYTHING to get away from the crazy cat bitch. Even willing to swallow his pride as a daring thief.

"Uh...will you promise not to kill me?" He said worriedly.

"I'm considering it." the voice said again, "But first thing's first. The cane on the ground and your little partner-in-crime, in full view, now. And tell her not to use her little tricks. I'll know, and any deals are off."

Surrender and live or run and die. He could live with the former.

He threw the cane away, and signaled for Neo to come on out. Said girl appeared not a second later, her face scrunched in concern and slight fear. She saw Roman give her the look that said not to do anything funny, and like a good little girl, she obeyed.

"Okay, we did what you said." Roman said, "Now what?"

"Now, we talk. You're working with Cinder Fall." Roman attempted to raise a hand, the cat girl pointed her gun at him. "Shut up. Let me finish... You're going to stop what you're working on with her. Make an excuse: police trouble, mob trouble, whatever; point is, you're going to leave her hanging in the lurch. Or I'm going to leave you and Neo here hanging from a lamp post."

"Not very subtle, kitty." Roman deadpanned before hearing the gun load a round into the chamber.

"I'm not in the mood for subtle." she said with an edge to her tone, as her narrowed golden eyes glowed in the dark, "The only reason you're not dead is because a friend of mine wants you alive. Apparently, she thinks you're going to help. Personally, I'd rather gut you, leave on the pavement to bleed out like a stuck pig, and call it a night."

Roman gulped at that, he was thankful that whoever sent this crazy bitch wanted him more alive than a rotting corpse.

"And, uh~, who is your boss, may I ask?" the Thief asked nervously.

"Let's just say you met her many times before," the cat lady said, "Simple as that. Think on the deal, and if you even DARE go back on it, the last thing you'll ever see is your own head being removed from your body."

And as a human brain remains active for 30 seconds after decapitation, he would definitely see that.

The criminal nodded. "I'm, uh, stuck with her until whatever she's doing in Mountain Glenn is done."

"Then keep Neo here." the Faunus said, "If I see her there, deal's off, and both of you will end up in unmarked graves. Are we clear?"

The two hesitantly nodded their heads, with Neo actually grabbing onto Roman in fright.

"Y-Yeah...c-crystal," the Thief stuttered, and the Cat Faunus nodded.

"Good," she said flatly, "I'll be in touch. Don't forget, or it's both of your heads,"

With that, the cat lady vanished from sight, disappearing into the shadows.

"O-Okay...it's official, I'm scared of women with cat ears," Roman said, with Neo nodding in agreement.

The silent girl held up a hand, finger going up.

"Got an idea?" Roman asked, since he could understand what she's saying via hand gestures and facial expressions.

She nodded and pointed at Beacon in the distance.

"Screw with the kids there?" Roman said, and Neo nodded, "Yeah, good plan. Just... don't piss off the cat lady."

* * *

 _ **Patriot-112**_ _ **: And scene! Finally finished this chapter. As you all no doubt noticed, this is a cut-in-half from one chapter, since the new content would've made it too long.**_

 _ **I'm also sorry it took so long, but between my birthday, SVS, and my grandfather, it was just a little hectic.**_

 _ ***:Yes, I know what you're gonna about that, it looks lazy, I'm sorry. But if you guys got any suggestions, be sure to PM me, don't leave it in the Review.**_

 _ **Until next time my friends, later!**_


	8. Chapter 7: Rings, Promises, and Pets

_**Patriot-112: And here we are! Another new chapter...and it's a bit of a 'built from scratch' piece of work. And the title should reveal what's about to happen.**_

 _ **Anywho, not much to say, except stay safe and hope this Coronavirus pandemic goes away. Now then, let's continue!**_

* * *

 _ **Chapter 7:**_

 _ **Rings, Promises, and Pets.**_

* * *

 _ **One Week since 'Rampage' Incident**_

* * *

Things had been...quite hectic, since the day that our heroes found out about their future, as well as meeting the new versions of their future selves. Aside from preparing for the eventuality of Salem's little cult possibly still attempting to cause the Fall, both Younger Versions of the two teams had been training rigorously. Along with that, the latter sets making some changes to their wardrobes, thanks to the pictures from Ruby's scroll, though they will not be ready until the Vytal Festival.

While they did that, the Older Teams took turns in looking after Ru, along with Maria Calavera.

With the latter, she was currently with the Older Team JNPR, as she looked sadly upon the young woman, who would become her student with the silver eyes. From what she learned from the girl's sister, her mother, Summer, had silver eyes, but unfortunately never had the chance to train her, due to disappearing and being presumed dead when Ruby was still a toddler.

She sighed as she, from the chair offered to her by the youngsters, bent over and gave Ruby a gentle caress on her head. This of course, caused her to jolt somewhat, but quickly relaxed at the familiar touch. Maria could only smile sadly.

"You can't die like this, Ruby," she said softly to the Rose Reaper, "Your family, and those who love you, need you back... now more than ever."

Her hand was then joined by another and looked up and saw Pyrrha as she sat in her own chair. Upon looking upon the older version of the girl she met weeks ago, Maria could definitely see how the years had been tough on her. The dark shadows under her eyes, paler than usual skin tone, and the solemn facial expression all screamed of the losses she endured.

"You all really care about her." Maria said, not intending it as a question.

Pyrrha nodded. "More than you know," she said as he moved a stray bane of Ruby's hair away from her face and tucked it behind her ear, "Losing her once in our timeline was heartbreaking enough...but twice?"

Pyrrha shook her head, as Maria's mechanical eyes blinked.

"I'm surprised you're still sane after experiencing all of that...losing Ru, and then your own Ruby," she stated, and Pyrrha chuckled bitterly.

"Oh, there were times where I almost lost it..." she said, "...But, I remembered what Ruby sacrificed her life for...and I wasn't willing to let her death be in vain."

Maria smiled at the champion. It appears there's hope in the Younger Generations yet.

"So...how long have you and the Arc Paladin been married?" she asked suddenly, making Pyrrha perk up before smiling softly, a light blush on her cheeks.

"Seven years now," she said, "Though, considering the environment Remnant was in, we decided it was best that we didn't have children. Hopefully, now in this time, we can start that family. And me and Jaune unanimously agreed that Ruby should be given the honor of being Godmother...after all she did and risked everything for, she deserves it."

Maria looked to Ruby, as the young woman continued to sleep while breathing softly, unaware of what was just bestowed to her.

"Hopefully, she survives long enough to learn of it,"

"She will," both turned at the sound of Jaune's voice as he came over and placed a hand on Pyrrha's shoulder, "Even when the odds were stacked against her, she never gave up. Just as we won't give up on her,"

They were soon joined by Ren and Nora who both gave determined nods at that.

"And when that bitch Cinder comes for her," Nora growled, "We'll be ready, and this time, it will be HER whom we put into the ground,"

Everyone of Team JNPR nodded, with Maria giving one of her own smirks. Unknown to them, Ru's lips quirked into a small smile, before it quickly dropped.

* * *

 **Training Arena**

* * *

Shotgun blasts ring out, as two blondes go at each other. Said blondes being Yaiyang Xiao Long, and the Older Yang as they traded boxing blows with each other, with Taiyang feeling the rather stronger than usual punch he was familiar with, if the sore arm was any indication. The father of the Sunny Dragon and Rose Reaper could honestly say that he was greatly proud and impressed by how far his eldest daughter had come...

...Though she still had that temper problem, it appears his eldest daughter has it more on a leash. Still, he still caught how her eyes would turn red whenever she noticed Ozpin, and that was a cause for worry. He planned to talk to her about it when he asked to spar with her, and see how she improved.

The two continued their sparring match before they both ended up in a deadlock.

"Well, I gotta admit you're actually using your head more than-," he proceeded to say, but unknown to him since he was looking in Yang's eyes, he didn't notice the slight smirk on her lips before she suddenly let off, catching Tai off guard, before she then swept the back of his overstretched foot causing him to begin falling backwards...only for his outstretched hand to be caught by his daughter's robotic one. He looked up, blinking in shock and surprise as he saw Yang's older self look at him with a nostalgic smile on her face.

"I learned from the best...including you, Dad," Older Yang stated, before lifting her father back on his feet to balance him. Tai chuckled as the two walked toward the stands, where on the front bleachers, Zwei watched as he panted excitedly before grabbing two fresh towels and padded over toward the two blondes. Tai and Yang accepted the towels before giving the Corgi their own respective pat on the dog's head.

"You've definitely surpassed me...," Tai said as the two sat down and the older Xiao Long pulled a bottled drink from the cooler chest before handing it to Yang and then pulled one out for himself, "...both in strength and determination. And most importantly, you surpassed... _her_ ,"

Older Yang's eyes narrowed at that, as memories of her mother entered her mind. How in the first timeline, she actually helped Cinder in almost getting the Relic of Knowledge, only for the Spring Maiden/Bandit Leader attempting to backstab her and take the relic to a different location...of course, she knew how well that went seeing as Cinder saw through it, leading her to kill her right hand Lieutenant, Vernal, and then a vicious duel occurring between them, leading her to be the victor. Then, came the talk between them, and learning how everything she did was mostly out of cowardice. Of course, she learned this info from... _them_.

She sighed as she took a swig of her drink, before stopping and speaking again. "I can understand why you didn't want to talk about her," she said, "Especially after what I learned what she did in Ru's Timeline.

Tai knew by the look on her face that something, no doubt bad, must've happened. And after watching the message from Ru, he had a VERY good idea.

"I believe talking about your mom is now a more sore point than usual, huh?" he asked, which caused the Older Yang to chuckle bitterly.

"Oh, you bet it is," she clarified before crushing her empty bottle. "And know that once I see her, mother or not, I'm gonna deck her so hard, I hope she gets a hematoma,"

Now Tai was greatly worried, as he grabbed onto his older girl's shoulder.

"Whoa, whoa, hey now...," he said in warning, "...I know Raven deserves a good beating, but please, for my sake and Ruby's, don't become a killer over it. In fact, I think you should take that out on the people who placed your sister in the current situation she's in,"

Older Yang sighed at that, "I can make no promises on that," she said, "But you're right, I should take it out on Cinder and her little Posse, as well as her boss and associates. They made Ruby's life a living hell, and me, along with the others, are going to show them what happens when you hurt one of our own."

Tai smiled at that, seeing that Yang still cared for her family, despite the tragedies that occurred. He then looked at the robotic hand, and could only wince, knowing he possibly failed to prevent the injury that Yang suffered.

Yang caught him looking at her arm, and only sighed as she lifted it up.

"Dad...this wasn't your fault," she said, "This was done by that horned bastard, Adam, and my own foolishness. Don't ever blame yourself for my mistakes."

Tai sighed knowing that he had been caught.

"I know...it's just...I swore to protect both you and Ruby when your sister came back to warn us...and seeing that you had still lost your arm and that Ruby will...," he stopped at that, unable to finish it, "I have to be more prepared."

He then felt Yang's hand on his shoulder now and looked at her, as she gave a smirk.

"Now you're starting to sound like me when I was still searching for answers about Raven," she said, "Not to mention Blake, when she was obsessed in stopping the White Fang. But, I'm not gonna ask you to stop, but I am going to suggest this to you, remember to be there for us. For me, and for Ruby,"

Tai blinked, before he smiled and grabbed his older child in a one armed hug.

"When did you get so wise?," he said, only to recieve an elbow to the ribs from a laughing Elder Yang.

As this was going on, Yang the Younger watched on, out of sight, as she listened to her father and older self talk. She took in what her 'Big sis' had said to him, and though she still wanted to find her mother, she knew she had to be more cautious. Not to mention, she needs to find a way to counter that bullhead bastard that took her arm.

And also, protect Ruby from that murderous cunt in the red dress.

She grabbed said limb as it began to ache with phantom pains, causing it to shake.

"I'll make sure she lives," she swore, more to herself, "I won't let that bitch take her away...that's a promise."

* * *

 _ **Meanwhile,**_

 _ **With Blake**_

* * *

The young Cat Faunus in hiding took a deep breath as she waited for the people she was waiting for. She hadn't seen them for over a year, ever since they both left the White Fang and left it with Sienna Khan, her godmother. Now, she was about to see them again and to say she was nervous was an understatement.

She didn't know how they'll react when they see her. She didn't actually give them enough time to show their reactions after she called them, after the...'Rampage Incident'. She just said that she was in Beacon and wanted to see them in person, before she rudely hung up, much to her frustration and self-chastisement at her thrice-damned fears. Blake could only hope that they'll forgive her for that.

Her hidden ears then picked up the sound of engines as the Bullhead that Professor Ozpin loaned to pick up the ones she called, with Professor Port being the one who went with it to pick them up, was beginning to arrive. She sighed as she stood up as the VTOL aircraft began it's landing on the platform.

"Well, here goes nothing," she said to herself as she proceeded toward the docks.

On the said transport, the side door opened as the boastful professor himself jumped out from the transport.

"I can assure you Mr and Mrs Belladonna, your daughter is truly one of my best students!" The man said, "Truly talented in both brains and skills as a true huntress can be!"

As he was saying this, a tall muscular man, wearing a blue trench coat with white pants and black boots, with black hair and a beard stepped off the transport, before helping a woman wearing a black and white kimono style dress, with two cat ears on her head down from the airship.

"Well, it's better than when she was with that troubled boy," grumbled Ghira Belladonna, remembering one of the reasons that Blake chose to stay with the White Fang, "I knew I should've had Adam thrown out after that convoy incident...but alas, Sienna thought otherwise."

"Dear, it's not your fault," Khali said comfortingly, placing a hand on his shoulder, "Adam already had full support of the White Fang due to his fearless reputation."

"Yes, he was fearless...but he was also ruthless. Too ruthless, if you ask me," Ghira said with a sad shake, "A pitiful shame though...he had such potential to do great things for our people. But...unfortunately, his tragic past with SDC had fueled his rage until it corrupted him...something I wished Sienna would've seen. But unfortunately...now I can only hope she realizes it before it's too late."

"I'm afraid it's already too late, Dad,"

Both parents perked up at the sound of the familiar voice and looked ahead. Their eyes widened as they saw their daughter walking toward them, as she removed the black bow on her head, revealing her cat ears. The young woman gave a small nervous smile as she rubbed her left arm.

"Blake...," Ghira said, as he looked at his daughter up and down, his wife as well, as tears of relief and happiness glistened in her eyes.

"Hey Mom...hey Dad," she meekly greeted, "It's...it's nice to see yo-,"

Before she could finish, and faster than she realized, she was enveloped into a loving embrace, courtesy of her parents, as Khali now openly wept in happiness.

"My little baby girl," the older female cat faunus spoke, "When your father and I received your call, at first I couldn't believe it, but here you are!"

Blake then felt a large, but gentle hand on her head and looked up at her father, as he gave her a proud smile.

"And attending Beacon Academy...you don't know how much this makes me proud of you, Blake," he said, which caused Blake to return the smile.

"Thanks Dad," she said, before she frowned sadly and looked away, making Ghira blink and Khali notice the change in her daughter's body language, which ignited concern from both parents.

"Blake?" Khali asked, "What's wrong?"

"I'm...I'm sorry," she said, making the two blink, "You were...you were right. And I called you both cowards for it. And Adam...he's..."

She would've continued had her mother pulled her back in the hug.

"Shh...," Khali hushed, "Blake, it's alright. You were young, passionate, and you didn't know that things would escalate the way they did."

"Your mother is right, Blake," Ghira added, "And what Adam Taurus has done, that's all on him, not you. We love you, Little Kitten. And nothing would change that,"

Blake looked at her parents, both of them forgiving her at how she acted when they left the White Fang all those years ago. It reminded her of Future Ruby's message to her, and how her parents confirmed her words to be true. Tears began to glisten in her eyes, before she grabbed both of them into a hug, with the two parents all too happy to return.

Overlooking from a hidden vantage point, Blake the Elder watched as her past self interacted with her parents, as a smile formed on her face, while shedding tears of her own. Among the losses that hit her the most in the future, her parents' deaths were the greatest.

But now, she has a chance to prevent that.

' _I love you, too...Mom, Dad_ ,'

* * *

 _ **With Weiss**_

* * *

The Heiress of the SDC was by herself in the library as she thought of the events that transpired in the past couple of weeks. Especially learning of the future of her partner, and her father's mad pursuit of attaining power, just for the sake of himself and himself alone...

...she wasn't surprised by that at all. In fact, she knew he would try something stupid in order to gain control of Atlas and make things more hellish for everyone. Not just Atlas, but the city of Mantle, along with all of Solitas as well. She sighed exasperatedly, wondering where it all went wrong.

Oh yeah, it went wrong the day her ill grandfather was manipulated into giving her false Schnee of a father control of SDC, and then said bastard father married her mother, while stealing the family name in the process. Yup, that was it. End of story. The end.

The youngest Schnee daughter breathed out a sigh as she calmed herself down from her mental rant. Thinking about it was not going to help matters, but thinking on how to prevent what he did, that's what she's going to do. The question though, is how.

"I was the exact same way when I found out what that bastard of a father of ours did," she actually jumped at the voice, before turning around and saw her older self standing behind her, giving her an amused grin.

"Don't do that!" She hissed, remembering she was still in a library, "It's rude to sneak up on people!"

The Older Weiss just gave a chuckle at that.

"When you endured a war and an apocalypse as I did, you pick up a few things." she said, before the smile faded, "And lose many other things,"

Weiss blinked at that, before remembering that she came from an alternate time where everyone else had died. Two people in particular came to mind.

"Mom and Winter...h-how did...," she hesitated, losing the will to finish the question. But, she didn't need to, as the Older Weiss sighed in sadness.

"Winter died when she was protecting Friya, the Winter Maiden who was nearing the end of her time, because of old age," she said sadly, before her face hardened and clenched her fist, "That bitch Cinder killed her, right when I arrived to help...she was smiling sadistically, actually having the nerve to show that she enjoyed it,"

Weiss' eyes began to glisten at the thought of her sister dying that way. Especially to one who was so cruel. What her older self said next would make her grief worse.

"As for mother...she was killed by one of Salem's Winged Beringel," Elder Weiss said, while tears glistened in her eyes, as she bowed her head, "She never had a chance,"

Despite Willow's drinking, Weiss couldn't help but feel remorse for her mother's future demise. Feeling a hand on her shoulder, she turned to her older self who gave her a smile.

"Hopefully, we can save this timeline, so you don't have to see it for yourselves," she said, before frowning as she turned away, "And not making the same foolish mistakes when who or whom not to trust."

Weiss blinked at that, before she could ask, Weiss just waved her hand.

"I'll tell you later," she said, before she then smirked, "For now...how about I teach you how to properly summon,"

* * *

 ** _Two Days Later_**

* * *

Red eyes glowed, as a dark mechanical figure stalked through the forest after receiving the call from it's creator. It had been in standby mode for months, with orders not to move from the bunker it and the creator had hidden in ever they arrived, and to only come when she said so. And now, after so long, it was finally returning to it's master's side, as it followed the tracking beacon in the creator's scroll...

...And it had brought it here, to Beacon.

'Signal Location: Confirmed - Beacon Academy'

'Current status of Mistress Ruby Rose - Unknown'

'Mission: Locate Mistress and ascertain current condition'

'Parameters: All Friendly Combatants, including the designated: Team RWBY, Team JNPR, and Team CFVY, and Non-Combatants are to be left unharmed'

'All non-friendly combatants...neutralize with extreme prejudice.'

'Commence mission.'

* * *

Ozpin sighed as he went through all the information he learned after watching the message that the Future Ruby Rose made specifically for him, including his future reincarnation, a farm boy named Oscar Pine from Anima. According to Ru, they met the boy when the young man came back with a very drunk, but very happy, Qrow. One thing that intrigued him, ws that he was able to resist him, and told Team RWBY about Jinn, and they found out his true origins...and the fact that Salem couldn't be killed.

Needless to say, the reactions were what he expected and it caused him to groan in frustration. Of course, Ruby, being the hopeful optimist, kept going despite the dilemma, stating that even though she couldn't be killed, she could still be defeated. Of course, future reality said otherwise.

His thoughts were then interrupted, when the alarm sounded, warning him and the school of an intruder. He stood as he activated the holo-screens for the cameras around the school, and began the search for the uninvited visitor.

And he quickly found them...or it, as it swiftly and quickly darted across the school grounds, narrowly missing students, including the recently recovered Team CRDL, who wisely jumped out of the way.

The figure was quadrupedal in nature as it ran forward, like a certain canine predator, while it's body was covered in black, and silver matte metal, which glinted in the sunlight. It's face was terrifying, appearing angular, jaws filled with razor teeth, with two long sharp pointed ears, with the look finished off with a pair of red glowing eyes.

Acting immediately, he grabbed his scroll and speed dialed Glynda's number.

"Glynda! Gather the others!"

* * *

Ruby sighed as she walked down a path toward Beacon Tower, wanting to visit her future self and the elder selves of Team JNPR, along with Maria. It had been days since she pressed that button to recall her future dog, and so far, no sign or word of a metallic canine anywhere...

"HEY LOOK OUT!"

"WHAT IS THAT THING!?"

"RUN AWAY!"

Ruby perked up at the sounds of screams, accompanied by the sounds of servos, and what sounded like blades grating on stone were heard, before a black figure stopped right in front of her, and turned it's red gaze toward her. She froze as she saw the creature before her, a little intimidated, especially the fact that it was robotic. But as she looked at the canine features, including the slowly wagging tail, it suddenly clicked.

"D...Drei?" she managed to gasp out...which the said robot dog heard as it's tail wagged even faster, before it suddenly crouched down. Ruby's eyes squinted, before they widened in horror at seeing the familiar pose.

"Wait...Drei...No. No! NonononoNONONONONONONO!" Ruby tried to get the robot to stand down, but it was too late, before Drei proceeded to bolt towards her.

Ruby screamed in fright as she waved her hands frantically in front of herself in order to get Drei to stop.

"WHOA WHOA WHOA WHOA! DREI STOP! DON'T-!"

A black blur, and a groan of pain later, signified that Drei had tackled the poor rosette to the ground, as the machine began to lick Ruby with a metallic tongue while happily wagging it's tail.

This was the scene that the younger teams WBY and JNPR, along with the older latter arrived to see, which caused the Yangs of the two to start laughing hysterically at the comical sight of Ruby laying on the ground, (with anime swirls for eyes) and being love attacked by a robot dog.

* * *

 _ **Patriot-112**_ : _**And finally done! Man, with work, the Coronavirus, and my mother going home projects nut, and other works being done, along with a annoying writer's block...man. I hope you all enjoyed this. It may be shorter than the other updates, but hey this is mostly an inbetween before we catch up where we left off. And I bet many are happy I added a little more dialogue, especially the talk with Yang and Tai, Blake and her parents, and Weiss and her older self.**_

 _ **This may not be the last chapter before we arrive at our target destination. But...it's gonna fun all the same.**_

 _ **Until then my friends, ciao!**_


End file.
